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Most well-written textbooks list the assumed background knowledge in the preface/introduction. Just skimming that part for the word "prerequisites" or "backgro
by sn9 10y ago
Most well-written textbooks list the assumed background knowledge in the preface/introduction.
Just skimming that part for the word "prerequisites" or "background" will usually find it.
- mindcrime 10y agoMost well-written textbooks list the assumed background knowledge in the preface/introduction. Exactly. And a surprisingly large number of books aren't well-written, exactly because they don't include that bit.
- sn9 10y agoOver 90% of any medium is garbage which is why you have to take the time to make sure you're spending the time on the best material. For most well-studied topics, finding the books that are good enough is not that difficult.
- eli_gottlieb 10y ago> Most well-written textbooks list the assumed background knowledge in the preface/introduction. Most actually-existing books simply write that the student should be "mathematically mature", by which they mean that the student should know all of multivariable and vector calculus, most of differential equations, much of optimization, and some amount of analysis. And also be able to do proofs, and also have good intuition. In short, most "applied" math textbooks aim themselves at Master's degree students or beginning PhD students in math itself, to teach material which can actually be taught to anyone with a bachelor's in science or engineering (except possibly computer scientists, whose continuous maths degrade because we never use them). Ironically, the first math textbook I've ever picked up that didn't assume far too much background was my real analysis textbook, because analysis teachers assume that they are teaching the gateway course to "real math" and have to educate little babbies who only just got done with calculus.
- sn9 10y agoI don't see the problem? If you want to learn something difficult that's above your level, and learning that something includes learning a prerequisite subject that's also above your level, you simply start at the node in the DAG that's at your level and work through the prerequisites if you're serious.
- yummyfajitas 10y agoI sometimes jump in at the place above my level and read both books simultaneously. You often need only a few things from the prerequisite class. But yes, there is no substitute for learning all the things you need.