tfw you can’t get a concept through to your class and end up drawing “function machines” on the whiteboard
“this is a function machine. you can tell it’s a machine because it has smoke coming out of it, see. you put your t in this box, and it whirs and chugs and then a t and a six come out…”
if it works for three-year-olds, it should work for undergrads, right
it’s this bizarre but charming series of picture books teaching advanced math concepts. yes, picture books; as in intended for early readers, or to be read to children who can’t yet read
(they are, incidentally, charmingly illustrated and a visual delight)
here we see our friends Kris and Kross playing with their function machine! sorry, “magic machine,” the book doesn’t use the word “function,” being intended for small children.
as you can see, this here is the “double a thing” machine. (the book doesn’t name it; the book just shows you the pictures and invites you to name the machine and think about how it behaves.) it even covers inverses, as Kris and Kross try putting things in the other end of the machine (and discover that the “turn all objects into gray blobs” machine won’t let them put things in the other end…)
these are great to read over and over with small children, because they get a bit more of it each time. the first time they just like imagining their own magic machines (“the turn-things-sparkly machine!”); by the last time they can figure out for themselves why the other end of the blobbifying machine is locked. (and then your preschooler understands why only injective functions are invertible!)
don’t forget to also pick up “anno’s hat tricks”…
…for those who want their small child to understand that one puzzle about the island where no one is allowed to know their eyes are blue.
seriously, these things are amazing. cannot recommend highly enough.
Kimchi and Justice 