About the Lecturer
Yingfeng Zhang is an advocate for generalist education in science and technology for teenagers, college students and technology enthusiasts. He founded QHOW Technology in Toronto in 2019, an educational hub that equips participants with knowledge of technology, business, and hands-on experience in product design and development. Yingfeng holds a Master’s degree in Software Engineering from Shandong University, China. Before he moved to Canada three years ago, he had worked as a science and technology educator and consultant for over a decade, training software developer employees on cutting-edge technologies and scientific ideas, and guiding university students to develop software products, and helping them write and publish technology books. He is an Honourable Contributor (2015) on Zhihu, the Chinese equivalent of Quora. He has written more than 100 answers in the fields of education, mathematics, science, and history. He has around 170K followers on Zhihu, and his articles were saved by readers for more than 400K times. Currently, Yingfeng is writing a book on the history of Calculus which origin and evolution dates back to ancient Egypt and ancient Greece.
About Lecture
In this lecture series, we will travel with Yingfeng through thousands of years to understand the history and ideas of mathematics, touch the profound thoughts behind it, and see how human beings have use it to solve problems in their lives.
Lecture 1: Astronomy
- Ancient Greek myths and constellations
- Why do people look up at the stars and why invent constellations?
- What knowledge do people get from the stars?
- How did astronomy inspire ancient philosophers? How have their thoughts profoundly affected human civilization?
Lecture 2: Geometry
- The Ancient Egyptians and their pyramid
- What did the Egyptians do with Geometry?
- How did the Pythagorean Law become the Pythagorean Theorem?
- Why did the Greeks think it was very important to use Compass andstraightedge?
- How did the Geometry of Ancient Greece lay the foundation of modern society?
When the pandemic is over, Yingfeng would like to lead field trips into the wildness. We would get to listen to the stories of astronomy under the starry sky, recognize the constellation, observe the meteor shower, and/or learn to measure their latitude and time. We could also go to an open field, and measure the land like an Ancient Egyptian tax collector. We would reproduce the common geometric theorem discovery process, and see how the Pythagorean theorem was discovered and how it was applied in practice.
Time:
Lecture 1 (Astronomy): Friday May 22, 2020 8:00-9:30 P.M. Eastern Time
Lecture 2 (Geometry): Friday May 29, 2020 8:00-9:30 P.M. Eastern Time
Language: Mandarin
Free online Zoom meeting. Maximum capacity 100 participants. Meetings will be open 15 minutes prior to the lecture time. Please click below link to enter:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87134664583
Meeting ID: 871 3466 4583
For inquiries, please contact: ericliujt@gmail.com. Thanks!
Grown-ups or teanagers, professionals or home-makers, every curious explorer is welcome!
学东西俱乐部“趣味知识漫谈”公益讲座系列之一、二
讲师简介
张英锋，多伦多趣好科技(QHOW Technology)创始人，致力于科技通才的教育，培训大中学生及科技爱好者成为懂科技、懂商业、能设计和开发产品的科技人才。他2004年自山东大学软件工程硕士毕业后，进入教育培训领域，曾在多家软件企业担任培训部门的负责人，并与十几所高校开展软件人才的培养合作，指导大学生编写出版科技书籍，设计开发软件产品，让大学生掌握工业界的开发技术和经验。2015年获得知乎荣誉会员称号，在教育、数学、科学和历史等领域撰写了100多篇回答，被收藏了40多万次，并拥有约17万粉丝。目前他正在写一本微积分科技史的书籍，从古埃及和古希腊开始，介绍微积分的起源和演化。
讲座简介
这次的讲座我们不讲抽象的数学，而是穿越几千年的时空，介绍数学的历史和思想。讲座分为两次，第一次讲天文学，第二次讲几何学。
第一讲：天文学
* 从古希腊神话和星座开始讲起
* 人们为什么要仰望星空，为什么发明星座？
* 人们从星空中得到了什么知识？
* 天文学如何启发古代哲学家思考？这些思考有如何深刻影响了人类文明？
第二讲：几何学
* 从建造金字塔的古代埃及人讲起
* 埃及人用几何学来做什么？
* 勾股定律如何变成了勾股定理？
* 希腊人为什么要坚持用尺规作图？
* 古希腊的几何学如何奠定了现代社会的基础？
疫情结束后，我们还可以去野外教学。在灿烂的星空下听天文学的故事、辨识星座、观测流星雨、学习测量纬度和时间。或者到开阔的草地上，像一个古埃及的税吏那样丈量土地，重演几何定理发现的过程，了解诸如勾股定理这样的数学定理是怎样发现的，又是如何在实践中得到应用。
无论你是成人还是青少年、职场精英还是家庭主妇，只要你对未知充满好奇，都欢迎来和我们一起学习、交流！
时间：
第一讲(天文学)： 2020年5月22号周五晚上8:00到9:30。(加东时间)
第二讲(几何学)： 2020年5月29日，周五晚8:00到9:30 (加东时间)。
免费公益Zoom视频讲座，限额100人。会议厅将在讲座开始前15分钟开放。届时请点击如下链接直接进入：
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87134664583
Meeting ID: 871 3466 4583
如有问题需查询，请致电： ericliujt@gmail.com.谢谢！