MATH 120A
Differential Geometry
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisites: courses 32B, 33B, 115A, 131A. Course 120A is requisite to 120B. Curves in 3-space, Frenet formulas, surfaces in 3-space, normal curvature, Gaussian curvature, congruence of curves and surfaces, intrinsic geometry of surfaces, isometries, geodesics, Gauss/Bonnet theorem. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - Note: this review is being posted from the middle of the quarter. It feels like Prof. May has confused 120A for a lower division course. When I take an upper division pure mathematics course, I expect a proof-based course that teaches the theory of a subject, not a course that skips the details of important, accessible proofs just because they depend on a little linear algebra (115A is an enforced prereq!). I expect to have my time respected with interesting proof results on homework that extend on the lecture material, not pointless computational exercises that take painfully long on 3 (!) assignments per week. To recall the course description from the department: "There are some beautiful theorems that if a curve in 3-space forms a closed loop, it has to bend at least a certain amount, and if it forms a knot, it has to bend at least a larger certain amount. Another beautiful theorem is the celebrated isoperimetric theorem, that among all closed curves of a fixed length, the circle encloses the largest area." Well, we moved on to surfaces already and covered none of these beautiful theorems. If the goal of the course is to allow students to develop an interest in differential geometry so that they may choose to study it more in the future, to put things lightly, Prof. May is not helping.
Winter 2021 - Note: this review is being posted from the middle of the quarter. It feels like Prof. May has confused 120A for a lower division course. When I take an upper division pure mathematics course, I expect a proof-based course that teaches the theory of a subject, not a course that skips the details of important, accessible proofs just because they depend on a little linear algebra (115A is an enforced prereq!). I expect to have my time respected with interesting proof results on homework that extend on the lecture material, not pointless computational exercises that take painfully long on 3 (!) assignments per week. To recall the course description from the department: "There are some beautiful theorems that if a curve in 3-space forms a closed loop, it has to bend at least a certain amount, and if it forms a knot, it has to bend at least a larger certain amount. Another beautiful theorem is the celebrated isoperimetric theorem, that among all closed curves of a fixed length, the circle encloses the largest area." Well, we moved on to surfaces already and covered none of these beautiful theorems. If the goal of the course is to allow students to develop an interest in differential geometry so that they may choose to study it more in the future, to put things lightly, Prof. May is not helping.
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Most Helpful Review
This was an interesting class. First of all, it is a class for pure math majors, yet they make math for teaching majors take it as well. That being said, Petersen is a great professor. He is clear and concise about explaining the material. It was not Petersen I had a problem with, it was the material. Most math classes I have been able to idly sit by and not study too much until the final...but this one really whipped me into shape. The HW grader was extremely harsh, so most people got between a 5 and a 7 on all homeworks. If you put a good deal of work into the class, it is easily manageable. He gives reviews before each test and recommends which problems you study from the homework before each exam...I'd say from the 10 questions on the final, 3 were on a final review sheet, 2 were from homework, 3 were simple applications from what we'd seen in class, and there were 2 harder questions. If you don't have to take 120a, then do not, by any means, take it. However, if it is required for your major, take it with Petersen. Just prepare for a hard-working quarter.
This was an interesting class. First of all, it is a class for pure math majors, yet they make math for teaching majors take it as well. That being said, Petersen is a great professor. He is clear and concise about explaining the material. It was not Petersen I had a problem with, it was the material. Most math classes I have been able to idly sit by and not study too much until the final...but this one really whipped me into shape. The HW grader was extremely harsh, so most people got between a 5 and a 7 on all homeworks. If you put a good deal of work into the class, it is easily manageable. He gives reviews before each test and recommends which problems you study from the homework before each exam...I'd say from the 10 questions on the final, 3 were on a final review sheet, 2 were from homework, 3 were simple applications from what we'd seen in class, and there were 2 harder questions. If you don't have to take 120a, then do not, by any means, take it. However, if it is required for your major, take it with Petersen. Just prepare for a hard-working quarter.
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