MATH2069: Mathematics 2A (Complex Analysis and Vector Calculus)
Ease: Variable
Lecturer(s): 10/10 (Peter Brown), 8/10 (Denis Potapov)
Interest: 10/10
Overall: 8/10
Summary:
A very interesting course, especially the Complex Analysis component. Vector Calculus can be a bit dull at times, especially when Potapov is lecturing. Peter Brown is probably the greatest lecturer in Maths, he has a way of engaging the students and a deep rooted passion for mathematics, his approach is very philosophical and can be quite amusing with the jokes he cracks. This wasn't the first time I had him as a lecturer and I noticed the emphatic conviction of the man. Potapov is also a tutor for Complex Analysis and he appeared to be one of the better tutors, and very helpful with email enquiries.
Vector Calculus
If you generally struggle with maths like I do, my advice is to get the Salas/Hille/Etgen prescribed Calculus book, you might have it from first year maths. Do not bother getting a pdf copy, get the hard copy. You might want to attend the initial lectures of Vector Calculus, but I soon found during the topic of double and triple integrals that it's pointless. I could not understand what was happening in the lectures any more. Potapov spends an unnecessary amount of time with formal side of maths which is all well and good, except this course is not meant to be a course of rigorous proofs. Furthermore, he posts annotated lecture notes with solutions so you can supplement your study that with the book, the book is KEY and more people in the course struggled with Vector Calculus than Complex Analysis.
Complex Analysis
Under no circumstances should you miss these lectures, for starters, Peter Brown posts the skeleton lecture notes at the start of the course, it's expected you turn up and fill in the examples whilst he teaches. Secondly, no one in their right mind would want to miss a Peter Brown lecture, even if you did not know any maths past 7th grade you'd find his lectures fascinating. I made the error of missing a few Complex Analysis lectures and it was a big mistake as even though some of the material is pretty easy, if you're not familiar with it you may end up missing out on easy marks in tests and the exam. There are two prescribed books for Complex, one is by Murray Spiegel. AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS, IT'S A WASTE OF MONEY. You will learn almost nothing from it, it's mainly a reference book with some examples, it will not teach you much about Complex. The other book is Complex Variables and Applications (Brown/Churchill) which is significantly more expensive but far better, in a way it can be confusing as it's more theoretical, but it is thorough and has decent examples. I do not think you can learn Complex sufficiently through books, even though when I look back at some of the material now and do not see a great difficulty, some books tend to not go through basics well or go through them in longer methods which are not required and Peter Brown demonstrates what exactly you need to know.
TIP: Study the 2009, 2010, 2011 exam papers, and for those going to do Complex Analysis in the future, the 2012 exam paper. Those 4 papers are very similar in format, and some questions actually repeat themselves. Whether the course format is going to change in 2013 or not, I do not know.
PM me if you need material from the course and I'll see what I can do.
Ease: Variable
Lecturer(s): 10/10 (Peter Brown), 8/10 (Denis Potapov)
Interest: 10/10
Overall: 8/10
Summary:
A very interesting course, especially the Complex Analysis component. Vector Calculus can be a bit dull at times, especially when Potapov is lecturing. Peter Brown is probably the greatest lecturer in Maths, he has a way of engaging the students and a deep rooted passion for mathematics, his approach is very philosophical and can be quite amusing with the jokes he cracks. This wasn't the first time I had him as a lecturer and I noticed the emphatic conviction of the man. Potapov is also a tutor for Complex Analysis and he appeared to be one of the better tutors, and very helpful with email enquiries.
Vector Calculus
If you generally struggle with maths like I do, my advice is to get the Salas/Hille/Etgen prescribed Calculus book, you might have it from first year maths. Do not bother getting a pdf copy, get the hard copy. You might want to attend the initial lectures of Vector Calculus, but I soon found during the topic of double and triple integrals that it's pointless. I could not understand what was happening in the lectures any more. Potapov spends an unnecessary amount of time with formal side of maths which is all well and good, except this course is not meant to be a course of rigorous proofs. Furthermore, he posts annotated lecture notes with solutions so you can supplement your study that with the book, the book is KEY and more people in the course struggled with Vector Calculus than Complex Analysis.
Complex Analysis
Under no circumstances should you miss these lectures, for starters, Peter Brown posts the skeleton lecture notes at the start of the course, it's expected you turn up and fill in the examples whilst he teaches. Secondly, no one in their right mind would want to miss a Peter Brown lecture, even if you did not know any maths past 7th grade you'd find his lectures fascinating. I made the error of missing a few Complex Analysis lectures and it was a big mistake as even though some of the material is pretty easy, if you're not familiar with it you may end up missing out on easy marks in tests and the exam. There are two prescribed books for Complex, one is by Murray Spiegel. AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS, IT'S A WASTE OF MONEY. You will learn almost nothing from it, it's mainly a reference book with some examples, it will not teach you much about Complex. The other book is Complex Variables and Applications (Brown/Churchill) which is significantly more expensive but far better, in a way it can be confusing as it's more theoretical, but it is thorough and has decent examples. I do not think you can learn Complex sufficiently through books, even though when I look back at some of the material now and do not see a great difficulty, some books tend to not go through basics well or go through them in longer methods which are not required and Peter Brown demonstrates what exactly you need to know.
TIP: Study the 2009, 2010, 2011 exam papers, and for those going to do Complex Analysis in the future, the 2012 exam paper. Those 4 papers are very similar in format, and some questions actually repeat themselves. Whether the course format is going to change in 2013 or not, I do not know.
PM me if you need material from the course and I'll see what I can do.