I really don't recommend taking this class unless if you're a post-doc or a professor. If you sign up for this class, be prepared to learn nothing and be expected to know the material already. I quote from Professor Levine: "I know it's bad to assume what you don't know, so therefore I'll assume you already know how to do this [high level mathematical concept]." He likes to "teach" by showing off what he knows. I'm not sure what in his life made him so insecure that he needs students to stroke his ego, but he has a terrible teaching ethic. He also one time said in lecture: "this exponent value is called the engineering exponent because it's wrong and engineers are dumb. Hey, that's fun to say: engineers are dumb." Honestly, the only students that got along with Alex are those who painfully lack basic social skills (e.g. being polite) and disgustingly elistist. I realize that work life outside of school will destroy this kind of student demographic, but I hate to see our students with potential be discouraged by this teacher-peer combo. Advice: stay strong and rise above!