Walks through ~20 projects that should really appeal to your inner 14 year old I think I have a better understanding of how engineers (as opposed to scientists) think and approach a problem based on having gone the same "process" 20 times. In terms of technical level, most of the theory was familiar from high school and I would have loved to have taken this course back then.
The connection to "reality" is made stronger than I'm used to as a scientist. For example, instead of having to "show that whatever fundamental answer is given by complicated expression", the answer (expression) is often handed down from above and instead used to figure out e.g. the breaking point of a 1x4 board and then an experiment is set up to measure or confirm the parameters/constants. Contrast this with the way I'm used to building as a non-engineer and my constructs can easily be described as overbuilt e.g. using way stronger/more material than is really needed because I never bothered/thought to figure out how much was really needed.
What I really came for was the "making" and this was sometimes skipped over a little too fast in my opinion. The tools and methods are demonstrated, but all the little "tips and tricks" or experiental knowledge acquired once one starts getting one's hands dirty gets passed over. (It is conceivable that I'm just way overthinking my builds relative to what's required.) E.g. in theory "you can get all the supplies to fix your kitchen sink water faucet by a simple trip to the building center"---in practice you'll have to ask for directions at the store and then probably come back 1-2 more times before you got the wrong part, ...
So if you always wanted a fine light-weight suspension bridge in your backyard rather than just a monster plank made out of too many 2x6s ...
Interesting. Do you think it'd be appropriate/useful for a 10-year-old? Or is this something that would just go over a kids' head until they've got some algebra, etc.? Basically, would this program lay a practical foundation such that when my daughter gets to algebra and trigonometry in school, she'll have a better understanding of what's it all for?
That would have to be a very precocious 10 year old! It's roughly at the level of AP-physics. Each lecture is 30 minutes long and about half of the lecture is spent going through the algebra. It might lay a foundation but it wouldn't be practical other than maybe to see "what the adults are doing" i.e. "doing math with letters will allow me to build a sailboat out of concrete or calculate the trajectory of a rocket". This might be worthwhile if she's really into STEM stuff if nothing else than because all the projects are cool.
thank you for this. as someone who needs those skills but appears to have a bunch of psychological blocks around approaching them and getting started, a "for dummies" structured intro would be useful
A physicist, engineer and mathematician are shown a blue ball bouncing then are asked how high a red ball will bounce. The physicist spends a day working from first principles using only the molecular composition of the balls and floor and gets an answer within 20% of the result. The engineer looks it up in their Red Ball Table and gets the answer within 1%. The mathematician paints the ball blue, says "I have reduced it to a previously solved problem," and leaves.
Engineering fundamentally requires a very clear assessment of what your priorities and risk tolerances are. Very similar to ERE in this way - how can you design a system that maximally satisfies competing objectives while minimizing monetary input? You can choose a single expensive but strong process/material and consequently overbuild everywhere else - or only use high-performance stuff where it's needed at the cost of engineering time and design constraints. I always start my DIY designs by finding the critical/weakest point then doing the calculations to ensure that my material can withstand it with a decent safety factor. Being able to test and iterate a design quickly has lots of advantages over analytical skill though.
The preview video put a smile on my face. There's a copy that I can request from our library! Thanks for the recommendation.
While on the subject of The Great Courses, I have to recommend Your Deceptive Mind, especially if you haven't read Thinking Fast and Slow. Also The Addictive Brain, a great overview of the brain chemistry of drugs. I got to borrow both of those from the library as well. Great to listen to on the commute.
@Hristo Botev
Are you familiar with the game Kerbal Space Program? I recommend that for getting kids into engineering. The game employs a real space travel physics simulation and smartly makes it easier by shrinking down the scale of the solar system so that it's easier to explore space than in reality. You can have fun with zero scientific knowledge - just slap something together that looks like a spaceship and steer it into an orbit - but to go beyond and plan sophisticated interplanetary missions you have to start figuring out some "delta vee" calculations & more. A great test for a kid's STEM interest and aptitude.
The great courses website has a subscription membership: $20 per month billed monthly, $15 per month billed quarterly, or 12.5) per month billed annually. Looking at the available lectures, it's seem its worth the subscription price.
@jacob - Thanks for posting that link - I've never heard of this website but there are many topics I find interesting.
@basuragomi - your post about the physicist, engineer, and mathematician and the cost/benefit analysis of priorities vs risks was very incisive. I will file it away for future use.
I think I have a better understanding of how engineers (as opposed to scientists) think and approach a problem based on having gone the same "process" 20 times. In terms of technical level, most of the theory was familiar from high school and I would have loved to have taken this course back then.