
Caltech Professor Emeritus, Author Tom M. Apostol, Dies at 92 - tokenadult
http://www.pasadenanow.com/main/caltech-professor-emeritus-author-tom-m-apostol-dies-at-93/
======
GrumpyYoungMan
Tom Apostol was also part of the team that put together "The Mechanical
Universe", a highly acclaimed 52 episode series of video lectures that cover a
full undergraduate physics course.

The creators of the program provide all episodes online at
[https://www.learner.org/resources/series42.html](https://www.learner.org/resources/series42.html)

I never met the man but I learned a lot from him. May he rest in peace.

~~~
jacobolus
That site says: “After June 30, 2016, we will no longer distribute this series
on DVD, and the videos will no longer be available online.” Anyone know why,
or if they plan to do anything else with the videos?

~~~
lstamour
An explanation is given here:
[http://scaapt.org/archives/1286](http://scaapt.org/archives/1286)

> "You may ask why the series is being retired. The original producers
> (Intelecom) do not have the staff or the information available to locate all
> the third party rights holders of the additional footage and rights to that
> footage has expired. Therefore, it must be taken out of distribution."

I imagine that unless unknown rights-holders pull them off YouTube (as they
apparently haven't yet...) then it will still be available some places.

The above page also notes the availability of
[https://www.learner.org/courses/physics/](https://www.learner.org/courses/physics/)
which includes 11 videos.

~~~
hackuser
Our intellectual property system gets in the way again. Why don't all the
limited government, anti-regulatory people complain about this?

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graycat
There is a film of a way up, over the top lecture in plane geometry by Andrew
Gleason with Tom Apostol.

I saw it broadcast late one night on a PBS station and intended for recording
for playing in high school classrooms.

Elegant. Powerful. Nothing like what see in common high school plane geometry
texts. I got in a few minutes after the start and recognized a lion by his
paw. If you liked plane geometry, then you will be in love with this lecture.

I just did a Google search looking for a copy on YouTube and found nothing.

Anyone know where that lecture is?

One of my favorite books, I worked to buy used long after it was out of print,
is

Tom M. Apostol, _Mathematical Analysis: A Modern Approach to Advanced
Calculus_ , Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 1957.

And that is advanced calculus more like your ugrad physics prof will see it.
Great to have when studying Rudin, exterior algebra but having to study
material much like physicists did it 100 years ago.

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jordigh
I learned analytic number theory from his text book. Probably unlike most
other HN participants, that is where I learned big-oh notation, in its
original context: measuring the growth of arithmetic functions. I distilled
what I learned into a short little undergrad paper:

[http://jordi.platinum.linux.pl/dirichlet-
primes.pdf](http://jordi.platinum.linux.pl/dirichlet-primes.pdf)

Thank you, Tom Apostol, for writing a book on analytic number theory for me to
learn from.

~~~
nhatcher
I also learned the big-oh notation there. Among many, many other things.
Absolutely great book.

~~~
ninguem2
Me three.

~~~
kkylin
Absolutely, great introduction to analytic number theory for anyone curious
about the subject.

------
tokenadult
I learned about Apostol's death from a post by a very astute mathematical
biologist, Lior Pachter, who was once a student of Apostol's. The post is "The
Ice Cream Cone Proof,"[1] which nicely illustrates Apostol's brilliance as a
teacher.

[1] [https://liorpachter.wordpress.com/2016/05/09/the-ice-
cream-c...](https://liorpachter.wordpress.com/2016/05/09/the-ice-cream-cone-
proof/)

~~~
abecedarius
I'm sad; I had him for the same course Pachter describes. One time he lectured
on the prime number theorem, just for entertainment: he didn't prove it, but
got deep enough to rather blow me away.

Here's a more recent elementary talk of his:
[http://www.its.caltech.edu/~mamikon/VisualCalc.html](http://www.its.caltech.edu/~mamikon/VisualCalc.html)

------
5olidor
Apostol's calculus texts were my first experience with 'real' proof-based
mathematics, and I also learned real analysis through his Mathematical
Analysis book. Good times; his books taught me a lot.

He wrote with clarity and conciseness; when I read Apostol it always seemed
like not a single word was added unnecessarily. I highly suggest picking up
his books, and am sad to see that he passed away.

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mathheaven
If there is a Math's Heaven with the Book in it, I hope he joins the chorus.

(*) The Book as the place were the greatest theorems and proofs are located,
P. Erdos, exposed in Noga Alon the probabilistic method.

By the way, there is a comment by someone nhatcher, is it the famous topology
author?

------
ridgeguy
Tom Apostol was my freshman math prof. He made math a useful tool for me. He
was a great teacher. Thanks so much, Tom.

~~~
kurthr
I only saw Apostle smile once. It was Gauss' birthday, which he always
celebrated in April with a cake. It had the Flux Theorem (Divergence to
Surface Integral), and I got the "dx" labeled piece.

I complained that he had given me the smallest piece, and saw just the hint of
a curl to his lips.

Hopefully, the "useful theorem"* didn't die with him...

*Apostle always referred to the useful theorem when proving problems in class... if you could figure it out, you were done.

~~~
ridgeguy
Check out page 212, 1969 Big T (lower photo). Big smile. But yeah, didn't see
that very often. Upper photo of him on that page is amusing also.

[1]
[http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechCampusPubs:20111101-15354...](http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechCampusPubs:20111101-153546791)

~~~
kurthr
I am tempted to believe that Lloydies had something to do with that 8^O...

~~~
CurtHagenlocher
We live for those we love and die.

------
rcpt
I picked up his calculus book for the first time almost 15 years ago and still
remember so much about it. Integration explained before derivatives, the
method of exhaustion at the start, and that early (first?) exercise about "a
number less than arbitrary epsilon therefore it's 0" all stuck with me through
the end of grad school and to today.

------
curiousDog
Wow! I didn't know he was alive until recently. I used his books in high
school extensively when preparing for my IIT entrance exam back in India. May
he rest in peace.

~~~
JorgeGT
Same here, didn't know! My father (a maths professor) showed me Apostol's
books on calculus, always recommends them very much. May the earth be light on
him.

------
WalterBright
My freshman & sophomore calc classes used his books 1 and 2. I still have
them.

~~~
tzs
...and, quite remarkably for a calculus textbook that is still in use at many
schools ~40 years later, the editions you and I bought at Caltech in the late
'70s are the _same_ editions that are used today. Volume I, second edition,
1967, and Volume II, second edition, 1969.

I wonder if there are any families where a parent went to such a school and
bought these, and then their child went to such a school and used their
parent's copies, and then their child did the same?

~~~
WalterBright
I was amazed to find those 2 books going for about $250 each on Amazon. Pretty
good for 50 year old textbooks!

I bought mine used for maybe $5 each from some foolish upperclassman who
thought he was done with calculus.

~~~
CurtHagenlocher
I now strongly regret having sold mine; the brief moment of glee and small
amount of cash was small potatoes compared to the number of times I've since
wanted to re-read them.

(Also glee-killing: AMa 95)

~~~
kkylin
Off-topic, but am curious: was there a "standard" text for AMa 95? I didn't go
to Caltech, but heard a bit about the course from a friend who did. These days
I sometimes teach our equivalent course, and am always looking for good
resources. Thanks!

~~~
abecedarius
They sold the paperbound lecture notes at the Caltech bookstore and presumably
nowhere else (at least back in the 80s).

~~~
kkylin
Ah, I see. Thanks for the info!

