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Expert Tutor, Teacher, Functional Programmer, and Mathematician
Isaac D.

4.9 (153 ratings)

731 hours tutoring

Your first lesson is backed by our Good Fit Guarantee
Hourly Rate: $129
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About Isaac

Bio

*** Me ***
Mathematician turned software (blockchain) developer, teacher/tutor at heart; I love helping people make connections! Avid rock climber, serious goof ball.

*** My promise to you ***
I will accept and meet you where you are. I do not build castles on clouds. We will build a solid foundation together so that your future success does not depend on whether or not you are meeting with me.

*** Who I am ***
I have 15+ years of teaching and tutoring experience, but the main thing that...

*** Me ***
Mathematician turned software (blockchain) developer, teacher/tutor at heart; I love helping people make connections! Avid rock climber, serious goof ball.

*** My promise to you ***
I will accept and meet you where you are. I do not build castles on clouds. We will build a solid foundation together so that your future success does not depend on whether or not you are meeting with me.

*** Who I am ***
I have 15+ years of teaching and tutoring experience, but the main thing that sets me apart from others is my down-to-earth style. I deeply understand the struggle that one can experience while learning programming and math because I have been there myself. Fortunately, I was able to develop techniques for understanding almost anything and I thrive on helping people not only find answers to their immediate questions, but understand the deeper structure of the problems they encounter and *how* to find solutions. Also, I love learning and am always up for a challenge!

*** My background ***
I have a master's degree in pure math from Kent State University (really ABD, I was in the PhD program for 5 additional years, but left to pursue a career in blockchain development). For the past 4 years, I have been working as a software and formal verification developer in the blockchain space. In terms of programming languages, I love OCaml, Scala, Haskell, and Rust. I genuinely love helping people finally make the connections they have been struggling to make and helping spark their curiosity!

*** What you should do ***
If you'd like to stop falling behind and start laying the foundations for a strong understanding of programming, computer science, or mathematics, I'd be honored to help you on your journey! Please feel free to contact me for more information or to schedule a session.

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Education

FAU Honors College
Mathematics and physics
Kent State University
Masters
Independent Study
PhD

Policies

  • Hourly Rate: $129
  • Rate details: I am dedicated to helping my students and put that above everything. I prefer to schedule sessions at least one day in advance, that way I can properly prepare to help you in the best way possible.
  • Lesson cancellation: 24 hours notice required

  • No background check

  • Your first lesson is backed by our Good Fit Guarantee

Schedule

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Approved Subjects

Calculus

Calculus

I have a very deep and extensive background in mathematics and love to make connections between disparate ideas. This is a non-exhaustive list of some of my favorite subjects/topics. Lambda calculus: beta reduction, beta equality, confluence, Church-Rosser theorem, fixed-point combinators, computability, decidability, recursive functions, typed and untyped, normal forms. Functional/Real/Complex analysis: Vector spaces, Hilbert spaces, Banach spaces, linear operators, Cauchy-Riemann, analytic functions, measure theory, metric spaces. Abstract algebra: Groups, fields, rings, quotient, algebras, monoids. Set theory: Zermelo-Fraenkel-Choice, von Neumann–Bernays–Gödel, cardinals, ordinals, axiom of choice. Topology: point set topology, algebraic topology, differential topology, metric spaces, separation axioms, continuous functions, partial ordering. Category theory: objects, morphisms, functors, natural transformations, F-algebras, monads, functor categories, universal constructions (product/coproduct, initial/terminal objects, limits/colimits, cones, Yoneda, Lambek), Eilenberg-Moore category, representable functors. I've worked through all of Bartosz Milewski's lectures. Type theory: simply typed lambda calculus, combinatory logic, type systems/judgments, propositions as types, dependent type theory, software verification. Cryptography: RSA, El-Gamal, double-ratchet, elliptic curves, lattices, number theory, probability. I've worked through Dan Boneh's graduate course. Computational calculi: Lambda calculus, combinatory logic, pi calculus, ambient calculus, processes, Gentzen-style formal theories, Bakus-Naur form.
Computer Programming

Computer Programming

My areas of expertise within functional programming: Recursion, data types, data structures, monads, interpreters, parsers, lexers, compilers, abstraction, complexity, modules, immutability. Languages that I am fluent in and more than willing to help you understand: OCaml (dune, utop, core, menhir), Haskell (Alex, Happy, GHCi, Hoogle), Standard ML (SML), Scala, Rust (ownership, memory-safety, lifetime, crates), TLA+ (distributed systems, formal verification, model checking), LEAN (theorem proving, dependent function types), K framework (operational semantics), Agda and Idris (dependent type theory, type-driven development, propositions as types), Python. I love blockchain: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Cosmos, Algorand, Tezos, proof of work, proof of stake, consensus, Casper, Ouroboros, nodes, virtual machines, hash functions, smart contracts, p2p networks and communication protocols I am also very interested in machine learning: I have a strong mathematical foundation for this area so I can break the complex concepts down to understandable pieces.
Discrete Math

Discrete Math

Discrete math concepts in which I am an expert: Computation, time complexity, automata theory, Turing machines, logic, set theory, graph theory, context-free languages, regular languages/expressions, P vs NP, decidability, reducibility , Church-Turing Thesis, and combinators/combinatory logic. I have also done research on finite metric spaces and convex geometry.
Logic

Logic

I took an intro logic class as an undergrad, co-taught a mathematical logic course as a grad student, and have been studying process calculi and other abstract logical frameworks as models of computation. I'm familiar with first-order, higher-order, and intuitionistic logics, lambda-calculus, topology, category theory, and type theory.

Examples of Expertise

Isaac has provided examples of their subject expertise by answering 1 question submitted by students on Wyzant’s Ask an Expert.

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Ratings and Reviews

Rating

4.9 (153 ratings)
5 star
(150)
4 star
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3 star
(1)
2 star
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1 star
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Reviews

Very flexible and great domain knowledge

Isaac has been tremendously helpful to me in my study of Lambda Calculus and Combinators, and even offered to read the textbook I was working through so he could better help me. He is very good at breaking down the topics into digestible pieces and is a very good listener. I feel comfortable asking him anything during our tutoring sessions. He adapts the session according to my questions and as a result I feel like I have a much better handle on the material.

Josiah, 9 lessons with Isaac

Excellent and knowledgeable tutor

Isaac is of the best tutors I've had on Wyzant, he went above and beyond! Not only did he help me greatly during our sessions, he also would send me links outside of our session to help me get further on the projects I was working on. This shows me he actually cares about helping his students and making sure they do well. I really appreciate all the help he has given me. If you are looking for a great tutor Isaac is the one!

Dominick, 10 lessons with Isaac

Amazing, patient, knowledgeable and really cares

Isaac is so great. He not only helped me with my problem sets, he actually emailed me later with more information that he thought would help me, which means he continued working on it after our time was up. He thanked me for providing him with an interesting problem. LOL I highly recommend Isaac and will book him again.

Heather, 3 lessons with Isaac

best teacher you can get

Issac is the best tutor you can get. He is very patient and explained ocaml concepts thoroughly. Always accommodating with schedule changes and responds very quickly for sessions.

Roshan, 8 lessons with Isaac

very helpful

Isaac helped me with a problem I was struggling with for some time and had wasted several hours trying to resolve myself. He also took the extra time to review my issue to make sure he could be helpful. Thank you Isaac.

Amedeo, 1 lesson with Isaac

Knowledgable Tutor

Isaac is very Knowledgeable. We discussed the data encryption standard (DES) in the Cryptography field. He helped me and answered all questions I had. Thank you Isaac for your help and guidance.

MAJEDAH, 5 lessons with Isaac

Smart Guy and knows how to teach too!

Helping me get the score I need on MPE to start with Calculus Freshman year. He is reminding me on topics of algebra and logs that I had forgotten and showing me better ways to approach problems.

Stephen , 4 lessons with Isaac

Excellent Discrete Math Tutor

Isaac is an excellent and extremely knowledgable tutor especially in upper level collegiate math courses. He explains concepts in a very concise and simplified manner. If you have trouble with any upper level college level course involving discrete math or any proofs based courses, Isaac is the tutor for you. I would highly recommend him.

Sean, 7 lessons with Isaac

Very helpful tutor

Isaac really knew what he was doing, and had a clear plan in place for the lesson. This meant that the lesson was very helpful, and I would highly recommend him.

Peter, 2 lessons with Isaac

Amortization

Awesome guy, great tutor, fantastic lesson Isaac helped me succeed in math and he is great at explaining the math. Isaac goes above traditional standards—and beyond excellent responses. Isaac delivers personal support on problems and is a great teacher.

Brayden, 2 lessons with Isaac
Hourly Rate: $129
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