I was in college when Sci-Fi channel did this. There were also stills from popular sci-fi movies and tv series (I think Battlestar Galactica.). Two of my roommates used to watch it obsessively.
For many years, the standard book of this sort was "What is Mathematics?" by Richard Courant and Herbert Robbins. It's not really armchair reading, but if you're willing to pick up a pencil (and get stuck on tough points for a day or so), most people who passed calculus should be able to get through it.
Knowing my way around NYU, I can tell you that Warren Weaver Hall is the home of the math and CS departments, whereas Mundie's talk was given to the business department. Most likely he was invited to give this talk by the people who already like free software, and the business types won't know much about it (given how few business school folks come to your average math/cs talk).
I was married recently and spent one of the most gruesome hours of my life waiting in line at the NYC clerk's office for a license. The process consisted of filling out a form by hand, waiting in line for an hour, where 2 of 8 windows were open, and then watching as a woman completely incapable of reading, typing, or using a computer copied my info into some sort of Windows-based application. In the end she misspelled my occupation (I am now a "mathematcian") and entirely missed the back of the form. Except for paying (money orders only!) and presenting ID, the entire process could have been accomplished with a single web-based form. I imagine, even in the union-busting Giuliani era, that the civil employees union would fight any attempts at progress or service tooth and nail, and that it'll be a long time before change comes here to New York.
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I was in college when Sci-Fi channel did this. There were also stills from popular sci-fi movies and tv series (I think Battlestar Galactica.). Two of my roommates used to watch it obsessively.
For many years, the standard book of this sort was "What is Mathematics?" by Richard Courant and Herbert Robbins. It's not really armchair reading, but if you're willing to pick up a pencil (and get stuck on tough points for a day or so), most people who passed calculus should be able to get through it.
Knowing my way around NYU, I can tell you that Warren Weaver Hall is the home of the math and CS departments, whereas Mundie's talk was given to the business department. Most likely he was invited to give this talk by the people who already like free software, and the business types won't know much about it (given how few business school folks come to your average math/cs talk).
I was married recently and spent one of the most gruesome hours of my life waiting in line at the NYC clerk's office for a license. The process consisted of filling out a form by hand, waiting in line for an hour, where 2 of 8 windows were open, and then watching as a woman completely incapable of reading, typing, or using a computer copied my info into some sort of Windows-based application. In the end she misspelled my occupation (I am now a "mathematcian") and entirely missed the back of the form. Except for paying (money orders only!) and presenting ID, the entire process could have been accomplished with a single web-based form. I imagine, even in the union-busting Giuliani era, that the civil employees union would fight any attempts at progress or service tooth and nail, and that it'll be a long time before change comes here to New York.