Friday Science: Looking Back, Looking Forward

This one's going to be a little weird.

Another semester done. Did quite a bit of calculus, physics, and chemistry this fall helping Sophie and Tom with homework. Got some problems right, others wrong. However, Duolingo and work have crowded out my personal goals with math and science textbooks.

1. About 2010ish, my version of mid-life crisis was to finish some of the math and science I started in college before my call to ministry. Eventually I settled on three university texts to work through:

• Young and Freedman's, University Physics, 12th ed. (first I bought the paperback one volume in March 2010, took it to Germany. Then bought the hardback in August 2012)
• James Stewart's Calculus, 6th ed. (I see I bought in in September 2010)
• Bought Chemistry: The Central Science, 11th ed. in January 2011.

My initial hope was to get through these texts before I turned 50. That was a six or so year goal I didn't finish. Not even close.

2. In early 2010, I started uploading videos I had made to YouTube. Initially, YouTube wouldn't allow you to upload a video longer than 10 minutes. But in 2012 the limits were gone and I started uploading videos I'd made several years earlier, including this Greek one (that Greeks hate) with over 61,000 views and this algebra one with over 43,000 views.

My first math video was on implicit differentiation (chap 3, that's how far I'd gotten in Stewart by then doing a page a day) and my first physics one was on Work (chap. 6). Those early ones were pretty rough because I was just getting my head back into math and science. I'd have to go back and do the chapters I'd already read.

Today I recorded a calculus video on the Squeeze Theorem. I'm about two videos then from catching up with the second chapter the gap in my calculus videos. Still have a little to finish in the fourth chapter.

3. Well, still have about 60 chapters left. Here's a suggested schedule for next year, a chapter a month:

• January, chap 11 of chemistry (intermolecular forces)
• February, chap 13 of chemistry (solutions)
• March, chap 14 of chemistry (kinetics)
• April, chap 15 of chemistry (equilibrium)
• May, chap 20 of chemistry (electrochemistry)
• June, chap 17 of physics (Temperature)
• July, chap 6 of calculus (applications of integration)
• August, chap 18 of physics (Thermal properties of matter)
• September, chap 5 of chemistry (thermochemistry)
• October, chap 19 of physics (1st Law of Thermodynamics)
• November, chap 7 of calculus (inverse functions)
• December, chap 20 of physics (2nd Law of Thermodynamics)

4. By the way, here's a fictional picture I drew of the universe for fun.