3 ms·

Books I'm glad I've read: The Inner Game of Tennis Impro by Keith Johnstone Seeing Like a State The Timeless Way of Building Linear and Geometric Algebra b

Books I'm glad I've read: The Inner Game of Tennis Impro by Keith Johnstone Seeing Like a State The Timeless Way of Building Linear and Geometric Algebra by Alan Macdonald Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (read this one thrice) The Tao of Pooh Science, Strategy and War: The Strategic Theory of John Boyd The Drama of the Gifted Child Interaction Ritual What Do You Say After You Say Hello? Of niche use: Mathematics: its Content, Methods and Meaning - mostly useful for figuring out what math you don't know. I recommend reading it at a fairly decent pace, and noting what subjects don't sound like an overview of something you've already learned.

randcraw 11y ago
What did you think of MacDonald's book? Did you feel the content could have practical use to you? I'm intrigued, but reluctant to invest the time/effort if the topic has only theoretical implications.
- ThrustVectoring 11y ago
  It's the kind of book that lets you solve the same amount of problems with much more concise mathematical knowledge and structure. I didn't have a pressing need for linear algebra, so I didn't get everything out of it that I could have, but overall it helped clarify the way I thought about many math concepts. For example, in two dimensions there is one direction for "sideways", so complex numbers have a one-dimensional vector `i`. In three, there are three coherent directions for "sideways", so quaternions have a three-dimensional vector `i`. If you have coordinate-free ways of thinking about linear algebra, you can treat both complex numbers and quaternions as "the same kind of thing" in many ways. I especially recommend this book if you need mathematical elegance in order to learn things and have a low tolerance for explanations that amount to "that's just how things work, go memorize stuff".
andrei_says_ 11y ago
Impro! Is incredible. If you liked the Tao of Pooh, you may enjoy The Te of Piglet

randcraw 11y ago

What did you think of MacDonald's book? Did you feel the content could have practical use to you? I'm intrigued, but reluctant to invest the time/effort if the topic has only theoretical implications.

ThrustVectoring 11y ago
It's the kind of book that lets you solve the same amount of problems with much more concise mathematical knowledge and structure. I didn't have a pressing need for linear algebra, so I didn't get everything out of it that I could have, but overall it helped clarify the way I thought about many math concepts. For example, in two dimensions there is one direction for "sideways", so complex numbers have a one-dimensional vector `i`. In three, there are three coherent directions for "sideways", so quaternions have a three-dimensional vector `i`. If you have coordinate-free ways of thinking about linear algebra, you can treat both complex numbers and quaternions as "the same kind of thing" in many ways. I especially recommend this book if you need mathematical elegance in order to learn things and have a low tolerance for explanations that amount to "that's just how things work, go memorize stuff".

andrei_says_ 11y ago

Impro! Is incredible. If you liked the Tao of Pooh, you may enjoy The Te of Piglet