I don't think I've ever read a math book that just went "Here is a list of definitions and the statement of some theorems. Have fun!" The problem is that math i

I don't think I've ever read a math book that just went "Here is a list of definitions and the statement of some theorems. Have fun!" The problem is that math is usually built on top of more math. So the motivating examples given are often examples in mathematics, just in a different area. For example, most category theory books talk a lot about the categories of abstract algebraic structures to get you an idea of what the things they're describing look like in "the wild." If you've never done any abstract algebra, it's like trying to use the Rosetta stone when you don't know Egyptian or Greek.