Lambda the Ultimate

inactiveTopic Video lectures on SICP
started 3/9/2004; 7:28:12 PM - last post 3/13/2004; 1:09:17 PM

Chris Rathman - Video lectures on SICP blueArrow
3/9/2004; 7:28:12 PM (reads: 17880, responses: 8)

Video lectures on SICP

Hadn't seen these on LtU before, and thought it'd be of interest:

These twenty video lectures by Hal Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman are a complete presentation of the course, given in July 1986 for Hewlett-Packard employees, and professionally produced by Hewlett-Packard Television. The videos have been used extensively in corporate training at Hewlett-Packard and other companies, as well as at several universities and in MIT short courses for industry. These twenty video lectures by Hal Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman are a complete presentation of the course, given in July 1986 for Hewlett-Packard employees, and professionally produced by Hewlett-Packard Television. The videos have been used extensively in corporate training at Hewlett-Packard and other companies, as well as at several universities and in MIT short courses for industry.

The videos are very large .5 to 1.5 gigs in size each. Not sure my ISP will hold out for that long (i'm halfway through downloading the first now).
Posted to teaching/learning by Chris Rathman on 3/9/04; 7:34:11 PM

Chris Rathman - Re: Video lectures on SICP blueArrow
3/9/2004; 7:41:22 PM (reads: 763, responses: 1)

Doh. I see the're on the PL Courses page. Must get around the other pages on LtU more often. Oh well, I made my way through SICP a while back and think it's always worth more discussion. :-)

Ehud Lamm - Re: Video lectures on SICP blueArrow
3/9/2004; 11:24:08 PM (reads: 754, responses: 0)

Sure. Just recently Ed Felten gave a list of must-read science&tech books for college students and included SICP. I think the book is too hard for a general audience, but CS folks should really read this one.

Tayssir John Gabbour - Re: Video lectures on SICP blueArrow
3/10/2004; 5:44:33 AM (reads: 706, responses: 0)

There are also SICP video lectures at Ars Digita University. If you look around the site there are lectures for other subjects as well. (For the "How Computers Work" one, I believe MITers use BSim, not Betasim.)

Chris, if you worry about the download dying when your ISP drops you, you might simply use wget -c. Cygwin should have it.

Göran Hultgren - Re: Video lectures on SICP blueArrow
3/10/2004; 6:35:45 AM (reads: 697, responses: 0)

If this is the videos I think it is then I remember that we watched all these lectures in school (Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm). Really good introductory computer science material. The use of Scheme in combination with very good material and presentations made it a joy.

Also worked as a good "levelled playing field" since hardly anyone was familiar with Scheme at the time. Note that we had a very good "in the flesh" teacher to explain things when needed.

Martin Sandin - Re: Video lectures on SICP blueArrow
3/10/2004; 11:56:07 PM (reads: 554, responses: 1)

I'll have to chip in endorsing SICP as well. Bought it at the local university book store a couple of weeks ago, mostly because it was on sale. That was one of my best buys ever, I'd say. I think most every item in the book has reflected an insights I have had to gain myself over the last few years. Lots of must-have insights presented in a lucid manner. One book every professional programmer should read to gain a clearer understanding of their own field.

Did I say I liked it? :)

andrew cooke - Re: Video lectures on SICP blueArrow
3/11/2004; 6:28:08 AM (reads: 510, responses: 0)

cousineau + mauny have a similar book to sicp, but in ml, that might appeal to those who prefer their types to be checked statically (of the two, i preferred reading sicp, but i use cousineau + mauny more often as a reference).

chris heller - Re: Video lectures on SICP blueArrow
3/11/2004; 2:39:52 PM (reads: 459, responses: 0)

Are the SICP lectures on ARS the same ones given by Sussman and Abelson from the HP video series?

I've seen the HP ones already (only took about a week to get them all :). If the ARS ones are from another lecture, or by a different professor, it would be worthwhile to watch them again if only to get another perspective.

Tayssir John Gabbour - Re: Video lectures on SICP blueArrow
3/13/2004; 1:09:17 PM (reads: 340, responses: 0)

Are the SICP lectures on ARS the same ones given by Sussman and Abelson from the HP video series?

No, they're by a couple of other people. I have only looked at one of them, not enough to critique them.

Oddly enough, I've never understood why Abelson and Sussman went ape-nuts over eval/apply. Ookay, so the thing mutually recurses, get over it. ;) Need a damn macro facility...

Incidentally, you might like Sussman's colloqium, where he talks about language and thought.