Alex West at TAG SEP


Welcome to my site for my Talented and Gifted Summer Enrichment Program (TAG SEP) classes. If you wish to know more about TAG SEP (or other TAG programs) in general, go here; to find out more about what I am doing at TAG SEP camp, read on below.


An incomplete version of my Tofu Reading List (that I pass out to my students each year) is up, and I will improve on it as I have time. Thanks to Han "Solo" Young for the suggestion to put it on my Website.


TAG SEP 02004

New! My course descriptions for this year (along with everyone else's) can be found here on the TAG SEP Website.

TAG SEP 02003

Due to a Website overhaul, my course descriptions for this year are temporarily unavailable. I will put them back up when I have time.

TAG SEP 02002

Due to a Website overhaul, my course descriptions for this year are temporarily unavailable. I will put them back up when I have time.

TAG SEP 02001

Due to a Website overhaul, my course descriptions for this year are temporarily unavailable. I will put them back up when I have time.

TAG SEP 02000

Due to a Website overhaul, my course descriptions for this year are temporarily unavailable. I will put them back up when I have time.

For all those of you who wrote to me since last summer, that I have not written back to yet, I would like to apologize. (You know who you are.) I bit off more than I could chew this past school year. Feel free to approach me during camp with any loose ends that you would like to discuss, if you are here.

TAG SEP 01999

The list below gives the courses that I taught in 01999. To see the site designed for my Spacetime for Campers class in 01999, go here. Warning: Not all of the sites linked to may still be around.
SPACETIME FOR CAMPERS, 1st period, 2 sections per Session
A year of algebra is required for this class, and more mathematics is recommended. We will discuss space and time and the speed of light, and some of the ideas from Einstein's theory of Relativity, including the famous "E = mc squared." How can we understand things like black holes, which do not fit with our intuition of daily life? Is everyone's idea the same of how long it takes for something to occur? What is a wormhole? Take this class and we shall see.
IMPORTANT: Students who are planning on registering for this course, please fill out the enclosed question form, telling me about your math and science background and your interest in this class. However, although student input will help direct the class, I make no promises to answer all questions.
THIS HAS AN EXPLANATION, 2nd period, 2 sections per Session
A year of algebra is strongly recommended for this class. This class will try to answer some of those "Why?"s from mathematics and science (focusing on physics, computers, engineering, etc.). Things like "What is heat, really?" and "Why do we use the '=' sign for 'equals'?", and some other questions that perhaps you never thought to ask. I may teach many of the same things that I did in this course in previous years, so I recommend that those who have taken this course before not take it again.
IMPORTANT: Students who are planning on registering for this course, please fill out the enclosed question form, suggesting a question you would like to have answered. However, although student input will help direct the class, I make no promises to answer all questions.
INTRODUCTION TO ALGEBRA: MATH AND SOME WAYS IT'S USED WITH COMPUTERS, 3rd period, 2 sections per Session
This course is for those who have had little or no algebra. We will discuss beginning algebra, and see how some of its ideas are used in the basic workings of computers. This class is an introduction -- math experts and computer programmers stay away!

TAG SEP 01998

The list below gives the courses that I taught in 01998. To see the site designed for my Topology class in 01998, go here. Warning: Not all of the sites linked to may still be around.
THIS HAS AN EXPLANATION, 2nd period, 2 sections per Session
A year of algebra is strongly recommended for this class. This class will try to answer some of those "Why?"s from mathematics and science (focusing on physics, computers, engineering, etc.). Things like "What is heat, really?" and "Why do we use the '=' sign for 'equals'?", and some other questions that perhaps you never thought to ask. I may teach many of the same things that I did in this course in previous years, so I recommend that those who have taken this course before not take it again.
IMPORTANT: Students who are planning on registering for this course, please fill out the enclosed question form, suggesting a question you would like to have answered. However, although student input will help direct the class, I make no promises to answer all questions.
A WALK IN THE GARDEN OF LOGIC, MATH AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE, 3rd period, 2 sections per Session
This course does not require any algebra. In this class we will discuss many different ideas about symmetry, logic, solving puzzles and more, using examples drawn from mathematics and related areas. We will cover analogies and isomorphisms, and play with the Prisoner's Dilemma. This course will be based in part on the work of Douglas Hofstadter, including such books as "Gödel, Escher, Bach."
INTRODUCTION TO TOPOLOGY, 1st period, 2 sections per Session
A year of geometry is recommended for this course. Topology is a type of geometry which focuses on stretching, gluing, cutting and distorting shapes in certain ways, and seeing what results. What mathematical properties do a doughnut and a coffee cup have in common? What does "nearness" really mean, and what is the true nature of space? Let's try to find out.

TAG SEP 01997

The list below gives the courses that I taught in 01997. To see the site used by my Geometry class in 01997, go here. Warning: Not all of the sites linked to may still be around.
THIS HAS AN EXPLANATION, 2nd period, 1 section per Session
A year of algebra is strongly recommended for this class. This class will try to answer some of those "Why?"s from mathematics and science (focusing on physics, computers, engineering, etc.). Things like "What is heat, really?" * and "Why do we use the '=' sign for 'equals'?", and some other questions that perhaps you never thought to ask. I may teach many of the same things that I did in this course last year, so I recommend that those who took this course last year not take it again.
IMPORTANT: Students who are planning on registering for this course, please fill out the enclosed question form, suggesting a question you would like to have answered. However, although student input will help direct the class, I make no promises to answer all questions.
INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM PHYSICS, 2nd period, 1 section per Session
This course requires a year of mathematics beyond Algebra I. We will discuss some of the ways that Newtonian physics does not match what we see in the universe and how the modern quantum model explains these anomalies. How can we understand things like the Uncertainty Principle, which do not fit with our intuition of daily life? What is a positron? Take this class and we shall see.
IMPORTANT: Students who are planning on registering for this course, please fill out the enclosed question form, telling me about your math and science background and your interest in quantum physics. However, although student input will help direct the class, I make no promises to answer all questions.
GEOMETRY, PERSPECTIVES AND PERCEPTION, 1st period, 2 sections per Session
This course is for those who have had at least a year of algebra, and little or no geometry. We will talk about geometry in two and three dimensions, and some ways that it shows up in art and science and the natural world. We will do some geometrical drawing, so bring rulers, compasses, protractors and the like if you have them. Also, we will work through some sample geometry problems from standardized tests such as the SAT in order to show you how to approach them.
INTRODUCTION TO ALGEBRA: MATH AND SOME WAYS IT'S USED WITH COMPUTERS, 3rd period, 2 sections per Session
This course is for those who have had little or no algebra. We will discuss beginning algebra, and see how some of its ideas are used in the basic workings of computers. Also, we will work through some sample algebra problems from standardized tests such as the SAT in order to show you how to approach them. This class is an introduction -- math experts and computer programmers stay away!

TAG SEP 01996

A partial list of the courses that I taught in 01996 is below, which I will complete later. To see the site used by my Geometry class in 01996, which links to many interesting mathematical sites, go here. Warning: Not all of the sites linked to may still be around.
THIS HAS AN EXPLANATION, 2nd period, 1 section per Session
The course description for this year was probably the same as the descriptions for it above, but I shall confirm that as soon as I have time.
GEOMETRY, PERSPECTIVES AND PERCEPTION, 1st period, 2 sections per Session
The course description for this year was probably the same as the description for it in 1997, but I shall confirm that as soon as I have time.

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TAG SEP 01992

This was the first year that I was a teacher at TAG SEP, and I have taught every summer since then. However, since I did not use the Web for any of my classes until 01996, I never put my course descriptions on the Web during those years. I am in the process of rectifying that now. A list of the courses that I taught in 01992 is below, which I will complete later. The schedule was also different then: all classes were 1 hour/day, and all six classes met every day, instead of the "three two-hour classes per day, different classes on different days" schedule that we have now, that we have had variations on since 01996.
CALCULUS
The course description for this class will be posted as soon as I have time.
GEOMETRY I
The course description for this class will be posted as soon as I have time.
GEOMETRY II
The course description for this class will be posted as soon as I have time.
ALGEBRA I
The course description for this class will be posted as soon as I have time.
ALGEBRA II
The course description for this class will be posted as soon as I have time.






Biographies of Women Mathematicians

Biographical information on mathematicians is usually not something that I have time to give out in my classes, but I wish I did. This site at Agnes Scott College helps fill that hole.

If you wish to see some information on a young, promising woman mathematician, visit Melanie Mitchell's site.

* In the 01997 catalogue, this question appears as "What is really there?" I did not intend that and do not know how it got there!


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(Last updated 5/15/02004)