RS2 Presentation, Part 1

bperet's picture
Submitted by bperet on Sat, 08/05/2006 - 21:49

I've been going over the notes between Nehru and myself over the last 4 years, and am converting them into a series of Powerpoint presentations.

Attached is Part 1, discussing geometry, limits and Larson's idea of a "rotational base".

These presentations assume some familiarity with Larson's RS and uses that theory as a basis for further development.

If you don't have Powerpoint, I recommend the freebee equivalent, OpenOffice, which includes Microsoft compatible freeware for Word, Excel, Access and Powerpoint.

First draft; I'd appreciate comments.

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RS2 Part 1 -- Regional Geometries316.5 KB

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Gopi's picture

Gopi

Mon, 08/07/2006 - 06:56

Ah, the long awaited ppt is here!

Comments:

Introducing slide 7 before slide 6 might be more helpful.

Slide 10: There is lot of info in this one slide... can you split it into two slides? A table in one and a diagram in another say...

BTW, can we introduce the concept of the complex number explicitly somewhere? Legacy science has no clue why the complex numbers abound in their physics, and an explanation [like Horace's Geometric Algebra pdf link] might be very helpful.

Let's see part two now...

Cheers,
Gopi

BE the change that you want to see in the world.

bperet's picture

bperet

Mon, 08/07/2006 - 22:02

Gopi wrote:
BTW, can we introduce the concept of the complex number explicitly somewhere? Legacy science has no clue why the complex numbers abound in their physics, and an explanation [like Horace's Geometric Algebra pdf link] might be very helpful.

As a physics student, what degree of explanation do you think would be needed? We have Nehru's paper he wrote for me on Complex Numbers (in the RS2 forum)... where would be a good starting point? How much time needs to be spent with it? Do legacy physics people understand "imaginary" to mean "rotational"?

Gopi wrote:
Let's see part two now...

I'm working on it now... doing to do the derivation of particles. Still a "newbie" at Powerpoint, though, so I'm still pretty slow at getting it together. But I did discover the "master slides", which are wonderful!

How about the content of the presentation? Were you able to follow it with just the slides and the notes? I want to do an audio track along with it so you can watch and listen to the presentation, but haven't figured that out yet.

Gopi's picture

Gopi

Tue, 08/08/2006 - 00:50

bperet wrote:
As a physics student, what degree of explanation do you think would be needed? We have Nehru's paper he wrote for me on Complex Numbers (in the RS2 forum)... where would be a good starting point?

As a physics student, the degree of explanation in Nehru's paper is elementary, at least by the teaching standards here. The idea of the rotation by 90 and 180 degrees respectively is very well known, however, what is missing is the physical connection. For example, when 'i' is operated on x axis, it rotates to y. But this 'y' is not the same 'y' of the cartesian plane, but that of something called the "Argand plane" or complex plane. No one has a clue what this argand plane represents, but just use it as a tool, saying: it is as if the vector is getting rotated etc.

So, the thought process should go something like this.

1.Rotation is primary in the time region.
2.It is not primary in the time space region, hence not "real" for us, and hence we cannot use real numbers for its representation.
3.But we still have to represent the "turn" in space/time terms, and without having any direct physical effect. We hence use numbers which aren't directly real, but are indirectly real (like:i squared is real).
4.Hence, the numbers should satisfy the two requirements of non real-ness and suitable for representation of rotation.
5.Enter complex numbers.

bperet wrote:
How about the content of the presentation? Were you able to follow it with just the slides and the notes?

I was able to follow it fine... But it would be better if you could get the feedback of others too... say Mike or Prof.Nehru. If you like, you can vary the slide design too... makes it more attractive. Just right click on the slide you are doing, and it'll show you some slide designs. It'll also show "Background" where you can change the slide back ground to any colour combination of your choice, and maybe even insert a picture from the net there. And of course there are always the fonts to play around with.

The important 'key-slides' like the one where you show the point plane duality would be better if made more colourful and less wordy. At least, once you get the audio in place. Wordiness reminds me too much of the course material in here! :)

The language is fantastic, clear and to the point.

Cheers,
Gopi

BE the change that you want to see in the world.

Eccles

Tue, 08/08/2006 - 06:26

Microsoft has a good site on PowerPoint presentations at: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/CH790018081033.aspx and http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX010857971033.aspx

Adding sound or narration to a presentation using a pre-recorded audio file: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HP030794141033.aspx

Sample presentation templates: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT011841851033.aspx

I recommend choosing a master slide/background and sticking with it as you have tended to do. Nuts like me notice when the page number flips from the lower right-hand corner to the lower left-hand corner, and I then forget about the concepts being presented.

If you jazz the backgrounds up too much, people start looking at the slides and not the content. Less is more; that's why the oral or audio is a very necessary part of the presentation.

A good handout based on the slides (see the Print data window) is also a good idea.

I assume that your audience members are physicists; I'm having a very hard time following the material.

Gopi's picture

Gopi

Thu, 08/10/2006 - 11:31

Gopi wrote:
5.Enter complex numbers.

I guess the thing I was trying to hint here is what is written in the site about Holistic Mathematics which Mwells had posted on his forum. I realised that when I read it after this...

Eccles wrote:
If you jazz the backgrounds up too much, people start looking at the slides and not the content.

Good point Eccles. Thanks.

Eccles wrote:
I assume that your audience members are physicists; I'm having a very hard time following the material.

Could you elaborate a little further on this? Where you got stuck, that is?

Cheers,
Gopi

BE the change that you want to see in the world.

bperet's picture

bperet

Thu, 08/10/2006 - 23:06

Gopi wrote:
As a physics student, the degree of explanation in Nehru's paper is elementary, at least by the teaching standards here. The idea of the rotation by 90 and 180 degrees respectively is very well known, however, what is missing is the physical connection. For example, when 'i' is operated on x axis, it rotates to y. But this 'y' is not the same 'y' of the cartesian plane, but that of something called the "Argand plane" or complex plane. No one has a clue what this argand plane represents, but just use it as a tool, saying: it is as if the vector is getting rotated etc.

Well, you've got me stumped on that one. I don't know how to represent a Turn in a common, Euclidean sense.

The Argand plane, though an effective device, is somewhat misleading because the "real" axis is basically the scalar projection of an entire 3D coordinate system into time-space, so that it can be measured. If you notice, only the length of the X-axis is the "real" component, and is thus just a net, scalar magnitude of what is going on behind the scenes.

Perhaps Nehru's pinion gear models could be used? The rotating gears make for a good, common-sense understanding of the idea of "speed", and their interaction shows mechanical results.

Gopi wrote:
1.Rotation is primary in the time region.
2.It is not primary in the time space region, hence not "real" for us, and hence we cannot use real numbers for its representation.
3.But we still have to represent the "turn" in space/time terms, and without having any direct physical effect. We hence use numbers which aren't directly real, but are indirectly real (like:i squared is real).
4.Hence, the numbers should satisfy the two requirements of non real-ness and suitable for representation of rotation.
5.Enter complex numbers.

Good sequence; I'll add it.

Gopi wrote:
The important 'key-slides' like the one where you show the point plane duality would be better if made more colourful and less wordy. At least, once you get the audio in place. Wordiness reminds me too much of the course material in here! :)

Yep; I should get more "graphic" with it, but I was raised in the "technical documentation" arena, where graphics were costly and avoided. Guess I need to put my imagination to work.

I really need to find a way to represent a Turn and Shift in counterspace, that isn't done as a projection into Euclidean space like Nick Thomas does with his "pencils". Granted, it gives you a convenient way to make graph-like measurements, but isn't intuitively obvious as to what is going on.

If you get any ideas for some graphics, let me know.

bperet's picture

bperet

Thu, 08/10/2006 - 23:12

Eccles wrote:
I recommend choosing a master slide/background and sticking with it as you have tended to do. Nuts like me notice when the page number flips from the lower right-hand corner to the lower left-hand corner, and I then forget about the concepts being presented.

Thanks for all the links, Eccles. They have been a big help. I miss the days when manuals actually came with the software.

Eccles wrote:
If you jazz the backgrounds up too much, people start looking at the slides and not the content. Less is more; that's why the oral or audio is a very necessary part of the presentation.

Good point; the information is difficult enough to understand without distraction.

Eccles wrote:
A good handout based on the slides (see the Print data window) is also a good idea.

I've been trying to make the slides translate to print/HTML without any overlaps. It makes them a bit more crowded, but what you see is what you get on the printout.

Eccles wrote:
I assume that your audience members are physicists; I'm having a very hard time following the material.

They are from a variety of backgrounds, but all are familiar with the basic ideas of Larson's RS upon which RS2 is built.

After I get the RS2 theory in presentation format, I plan to go back and improve upon it so that a High School student should be able to follow it.

bperet's picture

bperet

Thu, 08/17/2006 - 17:40

Using OpenOffice (which is actually a lot nicer than PowerPoint, IMHO), I converted the presentation to HTML:

http://rs2.antiquatis.org/presentation/rs2-1/

I was thinking of updating it to include a voice track to explain each slide, kind of like an on-line lecture series.

I can make space available for the other presentations, if anyone is interested.

Eccles

Fri, 08/18/2006 - 07:03

Bruce,

I like the look of your new presentation very much. I have a few suggestions on form, not content. I tried to modify the OpenOffice format, but couldn't, so I modified your earlier PowerPoint presentation attached.

I would recommend the following:

1. Don't use the S or Shadow font capability except in very rare instances. It generally makes a presentation look muddy...a subliminal for fuzzy thinking? Is this defaulted on the Master page?

2. Use Bold face in general; it looks better and is easier to perceive. A different color font (yellow) is better than italics, which is harder to read.

3. Use fewer words, thus marginally bigger type...an acquired art.

4. With multiple paragraphs, put them in the same text box...it's easier to control them. And, use 1-line of line spacing...Format/Line Spacing.../After paragraph: 1 line.

I didn't spend much time on the text; I don't know enough yet; however, less is more. You don't need to "tell them what you're going to tell them" at the top of the page if the material is self-explanatory in the body of the slide with your audio explanation.

File Attachments: 
rs2-1_bolder.ppt

SiteAdmin's picture

SiteAdmin

Sat, 08/19/2006 - 11:53

Eccles wrote:
1. Don't use the S or Shadow font capability except in very rare instances. It generally makes a presentation look muddy...a subliminal for fuzzy thinking? Is this defaulted on the Master page?

Yes, that was the default on the master. I didn't mess with fonts, only the font size (which it seems to do automatically most of the time).

Eccles wrote:
2. Use Bold face in general; it looks better and is easier to perceive. A different color font (yellow) is better than italics, which is harder to read.

Good idea; I'll do that.

Eccles wrote:
3. Use fewer words, thus marginally bigger type...an acquired art.

I'm trying to make it more graphic, but RS concepts have always been hard to depict graphically. I want to defer most of the text to an audio commentary.

Eccles wrote:
4. With multiple paragraphs, put them in the same text box...it's easier to control them. And, use 1-line of line spacing...Format/Line Spacing.../After paragraph: 1 line.

I did eventually figure that one out. Apparently you can apply effects to individual paragraphs in a list, which I didn't know before.

Eccles wrote:
I didn't spend much time on the text; I don't know enough yet; however, less is more. You don't need to "tell them what you're going to tell them" at the top of the page if the material is self-explanatory in the body of the slide with your audio explanation.

I'm starting the 2nd presentation on the "photon group" of particles, which includes electrons, positrons and photons. What is the best way to handle animation? I want to show movement, but if I use effects, they are lost when I convert to HTML. Animated GIF files? I hate to do that, because they can get rather large in file size.

Next question is: is this a proper tool to use for web-based eductation? It's nice because it is quick and easy, but seems to be more designed for conference-room style lectures.

Thanks for the example presentation--good reference for me!

Eccles

Sat, 08/19/2006 - 14:47

bperet wrote:
Next question is: is this a proper tool to use for web-based eductation? It's nice because it is quick and easy, but seems to be more designed for conference-room style lectures.

I've seen PowerPoint used in many commercial and government training applications. With Microsoft and PCs having such a large part of the market share, MS Office suite of applications are familiar to many people, including the education biz, even with its bigger bite of the Apple.

I don't know the answer to the animation question. As you know, "animation" to MS is largely transitions between slides.

If your photon group presentation is in PP, I'll spend more time on it. Also, it's amazing how much a Background slide right after the table of contents helps to frame the session. Some people need a one- or two-pager on RS/RS2 just to get up to speed on what you will be discussing.

Good Luck...Happy Trails...Watch the Sky....