From kirby.urner at gmail.com  Sat Dec 29 14:29:33 2018
From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner)
Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2018 11:29:33 -0800
Subject: [Edu-sig] meeting the author of Math Adventures in Python
Message-ID: <CAPJgG3SGcjm=kLbvx=_k8qcmDk9_Z9GujsFYW=cm=L9QD7uV1g@mail.gmail.com>

Twas my privilege to meet again with Peter Farrell (California)
this morning, and his twin bro from Bean Town (Boston).  They're
heading out tomorrow, as is my visiting family, as we close out
2018.

Peter wrote Hacking Math Class with Python and No Starch Press
is about ready to release Math Adventures in Python.  I've been
reviewing a PDF version.

What I'm facing myself is whether I think "writing games" is a best
doorway into coding.  For some, it clearly is.

However I always feel I'm shirking my real duties as a generalist
when I make it the point of MIT Scratch, or Codesters (Python
compiling to JavaScript) to make games and not math.

It's not either/or of course, and math leads to art pretty quickly.
That's a STEM to PATH bridge in my lexicon (more on Medium).

The hybrid of math and coding we're seeing in Farrell's books,
among others, seems more predictive of what's happening in
the core curriculum versus in these after school elective programs
I've been providing.

Peter has a better situation:  the students come to him, and
he's free to work in and test his math teaching ideas. That's
what I'd like too.  I'll talk to my bosses.

Peter and I first met at Pycon Portland 2017.  Speaking of which,
OSCON 2019 is still accepting talk proposals, I'm supposed to be
spreading the word (which I am).

Peter and I both look up to Daniel Shiffman of Coding Train, who
has been incorporating more Python in his Youtubes of late.
https://thecodingtrain.com/  His stuff gets very mathy sometimes.

Kirby

Follow-up:

http://mybizmo.blogspot.com/2018/12/another-math-summit.html
(related blog post the shows book cover)
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From funcalculus at gmail.com  Sun Dec 30 23:28:34 2018
From: funcalculus at gmail.com (Peter Farrell)
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2018 20:28:34 -0800
Subject: [Edu-sig] Edu-sig Digest, Vol 184, Issue 1
In-Reply-To: <mailman.16.1546189202.704.edu-sig@python.org>
References: <mailman.16.1546189202.704.edu-sig@python.org>
Message-ID: <CAN=3tEj+m8+pBOV8ntGFTXgchst+hyRCLwtStgXt=DcKusej4A@mail.gmail.com>

Thanks, Kirby,

I'm excited by what the new book represents: a step up in dynamic,
interactive graphics created with Python and Processing. Lots of people can
create better graphics than I can, but the book takes readers step-by-step
through the process, until they're making Mandelbrot and Julia Sets,
Cellular Automata and other cool sketches that have inspired me. Of course
you need math to do any of it. Or maybe you don't. Try it without
coordinates, measurements, trig functions, RGB values and so on. You might
give up and thank the Universe these math tools exist.

Steven Wittens complimented my first book by describing it as "learning
math using programming, but also learning programming using math!" It's my
cunning plan for readers to come away with two sets of skills.

Ask your doctor if Math Adventures with Python is right for you!

Any input is appreciated.

Peter Farrell

On Sun, Dec 30, 2018 at 9:00 AM <edu-sig-request at python.org> wrote:

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>    1. meeting the author of Math Adventures in Python (kirby urner)
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> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2018 11:29:33 -0800
> From: kirby urner <kirby.urner at gmail.com>
> To: "edu-sig at python.org" <edu-sig at python.org>
> Subject: [Edu-sig] meeting the author of Math Adventures in Python
> Message-ID:
>         <CAPJgG3SGcjm=kLbvx=_k8qcmDk9_Z9GujsFYW=cm=
> L9QD7uV1g at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Twas my privilege to meet again with Peter Farrell (California)
> this morning, and his twin bro from Bean Town (Boston).  They're
> heading out tomorrow, as is my visiting family, as we close out
> 2018.
>
> Peter wrote Hacking Math Class with Python and No Starch Press
> is about ready to release Math Adventures in Python.  I've been
> reviewing a PDF version.
>
> What I'm facing myself is whether I think "writing games" is a best
> doorway into coding.  For some, it clearly is.
>
> However I always feel I'm shirking my real duties as a generalist
> when I make it the point of MIT Scratch, or Codesters (Python
> compiling to JavaScript) to make games and not math.
>
> It's not either/or of course, and math leads to art pretty quickly.
> That's a STEM to PATH bridge in my lexicon (more on Medium).
>
> The hybrid of math and coding we're seeing in Farrell's books,
> among others, seems more predictive of what's happening in
> the core curriculum versus in these after school elective programs
> I've been providing.
>
> Peter has a better situation:  the students come to him, and
> he's free to work in and test his math teaching ideas. That's
> what I'd like too.  I'll talk to my bosses.
>
> Peter and I first met at Pycon Portland 2017.  Speaking of which,
> OSCON 2019 is still accepting talk proposals, I'm supposed to be
> spreading the word (which I am).
>
> Peter and I both look up to Daniel Shiffman of Coding Train, who
> has been incorporating more Python in his Youtubes of late.
> https://thecodingtrain.com/  His stuff gets very mathy sometimes.
>
> Kirby
>
> Follow-up:
>
> http://mybizmo.blogspot.com/2018/12/another-math-summit.html
> (related blog post the shows book cover)
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