Slashdot Mirror
Stephen Wolfram's Free Book Teaches the Wolfram Language To Kids
theodp writes: Stephen Wolfram received a PhD in particle physics at age 20 (his thesis committee included Richard Feynman). So it's probably not too surprising that Wolfram's new book, An Elementary Introduction to the Wolfram Language (free on the web), aspires to teach those new to programming how to do much more than just move Minecraft and Star Wars characters around. "The goal of the book," explains Wolfram in a blog post, "is to take people from zero to the point where they know enough about the Wolfram Language that they can routinely use it to create programs for things they want to do. And when I say 'zero', I really mean 'zero'. This is a book for everyone. It doesn't assume any knowledge of programming, or math (beyond basic arithmetic), or anything else. It just starts from scratch and explains things. I've tried to make it appropriate for both adults and kids. I think it'll work for typical kids aged about 12 and up."
Agreed.
received a PhD in particle physics at age 20
The older I get, the more I've learned that these wunderkind child prodigies that get advanced degrees before they're old enough to drink (in the US) are more the result of political connections and corruption (and probably gaslighting asshole managers) than anything else.
What did I get from my school for actually accomplishing things? Threats of federal felony prosecution. Oh, and have an AP class, kid. (Oh, I'm forgetting the 1 or 2 grade bump here and there to keep me satisfied that with the just world hypothesis and plenty of FEEL GUILTY FOR BEING ASSIGNED THE MALE GENDER AGAINST YOUR WILL BECAUSE THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN FUCKING DO TO ESCAPE IT instead of actually studying literature in English class!)
Ok, mod this comment -1. I'm going to go here. It's almost SJW Friday and that means I get to read yet more comments reacting to articles about promoting diversity by bitching about how trans women are the most privileged people in the universe. If that were true, why the fuck didn't they offer me the sex change I wanted and instead left me with excruciating physical pain from genital mutilation?!
This just goes to show how simple STEM degrees really are. Blaze through six years of university math at warp speed, and you're done. Getting a Phd in humanities or social science would be near impossible not just because of the massive amount of reading it takes to get through all the required material, but also because humanities take a bit of insight on life which you really just aren't going to have by age 20. Nietzsche was one of the great prodigies of philosophy, but even he didn't have his doctorate by 25 (but then he was made full professor by 26).
The college and university system was very different in the time of guys like Newton and Hume, so for them to finish school in their teens is not a signal of precocity so much as a signal that they were attending very different schools than we have today. Just think how many classes per semester would you have to do in order to complete a math or physics bachelors in time to finish your phd Phd by 20? I work in education, even the most obsessed student can't do more than six, simple because there aren't enough hours in the day. Still, it reflects the overall softness of the STEM curriculum that such a thing is even possible. There's just no way you could do the reading, and no, you cannot use speed reading tricks to get through someone like Derrida.