The Power of Mathematical Visualization was one of the first courses that I began with in The Great Courses Plus. This lecture series is fun and engaging. Some of the observations and methodologies were mind blowing – yet amazingly simple and seemingly obvious once pointed out. Strange how that happens. Here is a description straight from the textbook:
THE POWER OF MATHEMATICAL VISUALIZATION – COURSE SCOPE
Too many people believe that they simply aren’t good at math.
But what if you could learn to see mathematical problems in new and helpful ways? What if you could return to difficult mathematics topics from your past with renewed power, ease, and joy? The art of thinking visually is a key component to mathematical success.
They say that a picture can speak a thousand words. In mathematics, a picture can spawn a thousand ideas. A picture can provide deep understanding. It can prompt that aha moment to cause an idea or process to suddenly make sense and thus lead the way to finally understanding a tricky piece of mathematics.
This course offers you an alternative entry into the topic of mathematics. It provides a natural way to think about ideas and truly see what they are about and how to make them work for you. Visualization is regularly employed by mathematicians to make brilliant insights, forge new paths of discovery, and find deeper understanding in the world of mathematics. And it isn’t a skill merely for the mathematically inclined. You, too, can acquire the tools necessary to think brilliantly in mathematics, experience tremendous success in learning and analyzing mathematical ideas, and achieve—
finally—deep and powerful understanding of the mathematical concepts you
encountered in school and use today.
The goal of this course is to reveal how mathematics, if seen the right way, can
become robust, complete, and pleasing. And from this, a wonderful sense of
ownership of ideas emerges. Mathematics is transformed from an experience of hazy thinking and memorization to one of powerful clarity, insight, and fun!