- 02 Nov 2014
Have you always wanted to know what "chaos theory" means? Is the "butterfly effect" real? How far in advance can weather be predicted? Why, exactly, does beer warm up?
If you've been wondering about all this and more, you will definitely want to take Dave Feldman's wonderful course, Introduction to Dynamical Systems and Chaos, starting January 5, 2015, right here on Complexity Explorer. You don't have to be a math whiz to take this course; a good grasp of high-school algebra is all that is needed.
Dave Feldman is Professor of Physics and Mathematics at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. He is an amazing teacher who communicates complex ideas in a friendly, welcoming, and accessible manner. Dave's teaching experience ranges from teaching high school math in Tennessee, to lecturing on physics in Rwanda, to directing Santa Fe Institute's summer school in China. Dave's textbook, Chaos and Fractals: An Elementary Introduction introduces the major ideas of dynamical systems to students in a clear and substantial way, using only basic algebra.
We are offering Dave's 10-week MOOC, based in part on his book, for the second time. The first time around, students had this to say about the MOOC:
- “The instructor has a perfect teaching style. He is very familiar with this topic and gave some interesting discussions and examples during his video lectures. His pictographic style of explaining things was very helpful.”
- “Dave is an excellent teacher - able to explain and demonstrate at a conceptual and intuitive level without sacrificing rigor.”
- “The teacher was top-notch with a sense of humor when dealing with a dry subject. His approach and instruction were as good as any I had at MIT many, many years ago.”
- “David is an outstanding lecturer. His ability to explain concepts is a very understandable way makes him one of the best lecturers I have come across.”
Enrollment is now open for this course: You can enroll at http://www.complexityexplorer.org/online-courses/22-introduction-to-dynamical-systems-and-chaos-winter-2015 (click on the blue "Enroll" button in the upper-right part of the page).
