#216 overallHidden gem
The Art of Approximation in Science and Engineering
MIT OpenCourseWare
2 recommenders · 2 threads · recommended in 1 year, 2016 · score 2.0
A course on estimation and approximation techniques for solving science and engineering problems with rough but well-reasoned answers, taught by Sanjoy Mahajan. It draws on the same material as his book Street-Fighting Mathematics.
Commenters call it a favorite MIT course that made them fearless about unfamiliar math problems and useful for everyday numerical intuition.
Mathematicsintermediatefreevideo lectures#estimation#approximation#dimensional analysis#street-fighting mathematics#mahajan
Recommendations by year
20062026
I took a version of this class (called The Art of Approximation) with Dr. Mahajan when he was a visiting professor at Olin College. The course helped me become fearless about tackling a broad range of math problems I knew little about, and has helped me in countless real life situations from financial planning to major work decisions.
Also, it's a great intro on good ways to nail PM interviews, at least at Google (where I now work, thanks in no small part to the lessons from this class).
If you have a spare few hours, read this book or take his classes on edX. It'll absolutely change your intuition for numbers.
This was easily my favorite course at MIT, and there were a lot I liked.
In fact, I liked this course so much that the CTF team I started back in college was named "The Art of Approximation in Science and Engineering," the name of the course taught by this professor / that used this book.
Highly recommend.