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Ask HN: How to self-learn math?

• kraitis 9y ago
  You want to acquire and shoot for the so-called mathematical maturity. More precisely: to become an autonomous problem-solver and have the know-how to solve (non-)trivial proofs. Typically this means bridging the gap between computationally based maths which one is exposed to in pre-school to high-school years and sometimes in the first year of college/uni, and proof-based maths which involves and demands a good command of sets and operations on sets, quantifiers (universal, existential), logical operators (not, and, or, material conditional, biconditional), and proof methods (direct, indirect a.k.a reductio ad absurdum, induction, pigeonhole principle, etc.) A good series of books aimed for pre-school and high-school students to accomplish just that is The Art of Problem Solving. Google it.
• trengrj 9y ago
  I would select books based on your interest. I find the Dover publications good because they are both cheap and slightly older, this means they are less focused on undergraduate monetisation (version hopping, not supply answers to problems, glossy print), and more focused on proofs and algorithms. You can see them here http://store.doverpublications.com/by-subject-mathematics.html http://store.doverpublications.com/by-subject-mathematics.ht.... I particularly liked Probability: A concise course, and Number Theory by George Andrews. Amazon used to have a great number of graduate preparation book lists which always included books such as Rudin's Principles of Mathematics Analysis, and Halmos' Finite Dimensional Vector Spaces. These classic maths books are brilliant but usually easier to understand if you already have some experience with the material. Final advice is to find a study partner as it can be hard to track how you are going and keep motivated, especially without the instant feedback loop you get with programming.
• mkl 9y ago
  What do you know already? What kind of stuff do you want to learn about? What do you want to do with it? Maths is big, and cumulative. Edit: Re your experience edit, I second the recommendation of Khan Academy. I'd also recommend the book Measurement by Paul Lockhart.
  • RossBencina 9y ago
    > Maths is big, and cumulative. The cumulative part needs to be emphasised. Almost every topic in math, from grade-school on up, has pre-requisite knowledge. If you miss key knowledge you will easily get lost, so it's important to take things step by step.
• michjedi 9y ago
  what is your current level?
• bochengkor 9y ago
  3Blue1Brown
  • hiaux0 9y ago
    +1 And definitely follow through his "pause and ponder" sections. If you want to build up your maths skills, it is crucial to learn how to think in the maths way. Like becoming a good programmer involves writing lots of code yourself, or to become a good dancer you need to practice your steps. For maths it's abstract thinking. Appreciation of maths is one thing, having the discipline to self-study a whole other. Edit. Regarding your 2nd Edit: His videos are made for the broadest audience possible. I'd recommend picking any video whose topic interests you the most at the moment. You will see what knowledge you lack (take notes of these!) and can expand from there. Be it to watch his maths fundamental ((1)) series [0],[1] or just rewatch. ((1)): As in any other things, knowing your fundamentals is significant to the understanding of a topic. It won't help you at all if you can apply (copy paste) some machine learning techniques if you don't know about linear algebra at all. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjBOesZCoqc&list=PLZHQObOWTQDPD3MizzM2xVFitgF8hE_ab https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjBOesZCoqc&list=PLZHQObOWTQ... [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUvTyaaNkzM&list=PLZHQObOWTQDMsr9K-rj53DwVRMYO3t5Yr https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUvTyaaNkzM&list=PLZHQObOWTQ...
  • InclinedPlane 9y ago
    Youtube link to make it easier: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYO_jab_esuFRV4b17AJtAw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYO_jab_esuFRV4b17AJtAw The calculus and linear algebra playlists are particularly excellent.
• KodiakLabs 9y ago
  The simplest approach I think would be to start with Khan Academy. Well spoken clear and concise. You can go from a Highschool level towards subjects from first year university. Once there, it should be easier to self teach from books.
  • hultner 9y ago
    I can recommend this path, studied almost all my pre-engineering math this way 2011 and were better equipped for initial engineering courses then most of my peers. However it kinda capped out at high-school level (or atleast Swedish equivalents).
    • KodiakLabs 9y ago
      Interesting. Truth be told, I remember when it was simply him on YouTube. I guess to carry on, one would have to go for 3Blue1Brown to get the fundamentals of university math.
  • ravenstine 9y ago
    OpenStax textbooks(free and open source) are also good supplemental material.
  • elbear 9y ago
    I agree, because I'm on this path myself and have been for 200 days. I started by brushing up on my algebra and now I've reached integrals in AP Calculus AB.
• hamad 9y ago
  haskell(common knowledge) -> category theory(compare it with set theory here you will read about math foundation crisis) -> type theory(curry howard correspondence or logic == program) personal perspective
  • hamad 9y ago
    I highly recommend Bartosz Milewski series in category theory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8LbkfSSR58 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8LbkfSSR58
    • elcapitan 9y ago
      Independently of whether this is a helpful answer for the original question, thanks for that link, was looking for some good lecture introduction on category theory and this looks really nice.
      • hamad 9y ago
        it's base on a fantastic book https://bartoszmilewski.com/2014/10/28/category-theory-for-programmers-the-preface/ https://bartoszmilewski.com/2014/10/28/category-theory-for-p...
        • elcapitan 9y ago
          That looks great, thanks!
  • mkl 9y ago
    That seems way too abstract and advanced for a beginner. I can't imagine anyone starting that way.
    • hamad 9y ago
      i agree but i think you can see the whole image and select what you want. for example maybe you like CS you will comfortable with graph theory or compatibility theory, or philosophy you love paradoxes you counter in logic, even the history you can read about Hilbert program.
• schlinb 9y ago
  I've been using YouTube videos. One recommendation -- watch the videos at 2x speed. The information is actually easier to absorb when it's presented quickly.
  • ivan_ah 9y ago
    +1 for this. The chrome extension [1] is even better since it allows for 0.1 playback speed increments, e.g. 1.8x speed, or 2.3x speed. I've watched some lectures with really slow speakers at 3x and was still able to understand, and really wondered what the people watching the lecture live at 1x must have felt... [1] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/video-speed-controller/nffaoalbilbmmfgbnbgppjihopabppdk?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/video-speed-contro...
    • rdc12 9y ago
      In person and by video of the same material experience can be quite different. One of my current lecturers, is very engaging, with great natural flow in the lecture room, but watching via video somehow fails to capture this. That is for lectures that I miss due to a clash, not re-watching.
• oh-kumudo 9y ago
  What math are you interested in learning? Math is just too broad to be a single subject if you want to dig.
• NiklasMort 9y ago
  I'd start with this video to get an overview of all the topics and areas that mathematics entails (some might be unknown to you) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmJ-4B-mS-Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmJ-4B-mS-Y . Then you go ahead and research a bit what sounds interesting to you and then you might google that topic and add "foundations" to that google search. It's just that most school/university math is heavily focused on analysis and algebra but there is so much more!
• cyphar 9y ago
  Khan Academy is pretty good, though in my experience most of the videos focus on the way high-school courses are structured rather than teaching in a method that is the most intuitive (if you're planning to dedicate more time than an average high-school class timetable then it would make sense to learn in a more methodical way than the "scatter shot" that most high school curricula use). Unfortunately a lot of the good "starting out" maths textbooks I know of are basically university level (though it should be noted that first-year of university mathematics is basically re-learning all of your previous mathematics knowledge but with new insights). While I wouldn't stop you from trying to read a university-level textbook, most of them are structured in a way that requires some familiarity with the topic before reading.
• abcve 9y ago
  If you want learn Mathematics from bottoms ups I'm think this book[1] is for you. This list of Mathematics books[2] too is awesome. [1] Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers by Jan Gullberg [2] https://mathblog.com/mathematics-books/ https://mathblog.com/mathematics-books/
• ivan_ah 9y ago
  I have just the book for you: the essentials of high school math for adults: http://www.lulu.com/shop/ivan-savov/no-bullshit-guide-to-mathematics-hardcover/hardcover/product-23460526.html http://www.lulu.com/shop/ivan-savov/no-bullshit-guide-to-mat... If you like this one, you can followup with the MATH&PHYS book which covers mechanics (PHYS101) and calculus. And if you like that one, you can follow up with the liner algebra book. All along the way, I recommend you try solving exercises and problems using pen and paper. Ideally you can also create custom "test questions" for yourself using SymPy https://minireference.com/static/tutorials/sympy_tutorial.pdf https://minireference.com/static/tutorials/sympy_tutorial.pd... 1. start with a simple math question or equation related to what you're studying right now, 2. solve it by hand, 3. compare your answer with the answer obtained by SymPy. Good luck on your journey. Math is very deep so don't be in a rush. Enjoy the views along the way!
  • victor106 9y ago
    This looks great. Do you have a pdf/ebook I can purchase?
    • ivan_ah 9y ago
      I'm still working on generating the MATH eBook, but the 3-in-1 book (MATH+MECH+CALC) is available here: https://gumroad.com/l/noBSmath https://gumroad.com/l/noBSmath Chapter 1 of the 3-in-1 book is essentially the same as the No Bullshit guide to Mathematics. You can see a preview here: https://minireference.com/static/excerpts/noBSguide_v5_preview.pdf https://minireference.com/static/excerpts/noBSguide_v5_previ...
      • face_mcgace 9y ago
        what is the difference between no bs guide to mathematics and the 3-in-1 book?
        • ivan_ah 9y ago
          The 3-in-1 book contains a high school math review, a mechanics course, and a calculus course (450pp). The No bs guide to math is just the high school math review and is much thinner 170pp. (I'm essentially cutting up the 3-in-1 book and releasing it as split books because I realize 450pp can be intimidating for some readers).
• cybernoodles 9y ago
  If you love math, read the books that interest you most, and read about math in the context of your interests. You will get much more out of that than reading books that others told you about. And you will also stick to it and turn it into something you enjoy rather than feeling guilty for not reading enough of a book you have less interest in.
• cybernoodles 9y ago
  If you love math, read the books that interest you most, and read about math used within the context of your interests. You will get much more out of that than reading books that others told you about. And you will also stick to it and turn it into something you enjoy rather than feeling guilty for not reading enough about math in a context you cant strongly relate to or be attracted to. Take advantage of your interests.
• mikevm 9y ago
  Ok, I'll take a crack at this: Up to high-school level: 1. Precalculus: Precalculus: A Prelude to Calculus - Axler 2. Calculus: The Calculus Tutoring Book - Ash. College: 3. Preparation for Collegel-level maths: 3a. General prep for high level maths: How to Study as a Mathematics Major - Alcock 3b. Proof writing: How to Prove It - A Structured Approach - Velleman OR Book of Proof (2nd ed) - Hammack (it's free!) 4. Mathematical Analysis: 4a. Good prep for Analysis: How to Think About Analysis - Alcock 4b. Understanding Analysis (2nd ed) - Abbott OR Yet Another Introduction to Analysis - Bryant (has full solutions) OR The How and Why of One Variable Calculus - Sasane OR Mathematical Analysis - A Straightforward Approach (2nd ed) - Binmore (has full solutions) 5. Discrete Mathematics (a combination of set theory, combinatorics, a bit of discrete probability and graph theory): Discrete Mathematics - Chetwynd, Diggle 6. Linear Algebra: Linear Algebra - A Modern Introduction (4th ed) - Poole 7. Probability: Introduction to Probability - Blitzstein, Hwang + online course https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/stat110 https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/stat110 8. Statistics: (for Bayesian) Statistical Rethinking - A Bayesian Course with Examples in R and Stan - McElreath + online course https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDcUM9US4XdM9_N6XUUFrhghGJ4K25bFc https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDcUM9US4XdM9_N6XUUFr... Usually you'll be doing courses on #4, #5, and #6 simultaneously.
  • dvddgld 9y ago
    Two quick things I can recommend without hesitation, which focus on an intuitive understanding of concepts: 1. Essence of Linear Algebra mini-series - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kjBOesZCoqc https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kjBOesZCoqc 2. Better Explained website - https://betterexplained.com https://betterexplained.com YouTube has a lot of high quality math content, it definitely helped through university. It's also worth mentioning the Stanford U courses. The main takeaway I have for you is learn the concepts intuitively first, then spend the time to play around with them on paper until they sink in. Some things will be easy, some will be frustrating, much like programming you will walk away from a frustrating problem and have an epiphany while doing something completely different. All the best and have fun!
    • Entalpi 9y ago
• IvanK_net 9y ago
  Whenever I tried to self-learn anything, it was a very bad idea. Some parts of the subject I enjoyed and other parts I hated. I tend to make my own conclusions, which parts are useful and wich are a waste of time (so I tend to skip them). I tend to filter out the material this way, in order to make learning less painful and more fun. My conclusions (what is useful and what isn't) were always wrong and I ended up not learning anything properly, not getting a proper understanding of anything. Please, if there is still any such option for you in your country, always choose a proper school education instead of self-learning. It is really great, when there is some leader with a proper understanding of the subject (a teacher) and others, who are having "the pain" with you (classmates), so you can see you are not "suffering" alone, and you don't start making your own conclusions (since you would see, that others are taking seriously what you wanted to call a waste of time). Classmates also help each other during the learning process. So personally, I think a person gives up self-learning as soon as it becomes too painful / boring. The best way to overcome it is to see other people around you going through the same process, or to see somebody who you admire, who has already gone through the same process (it could be your teacher, your parent, your role model etc.). You could call that "the motivation".
  • Zeule 9y ago
    This answer is absurd, and only true for people with little motivation. Self-learning does require more motivation and "grit" to keep going, and some planning early on, and there is a higher dropout rate. But in many cases, it is the best option. I've found that this is especially true for many parts of STEM fields. It is a far more productive and effective use of time to work through problems than listen to lectures. Of course, it is also helpful to have people you can ask questions when you don't understand as comes with a class, but that can also be found online. I also find that I often understand things I learn on my own more deeply because I can go at my own pace and have more time (time not spent listening to lectures or preparing for exams on a fixed deadline) to draw from a variety of resources. One of the most important skills someone can learn is how to learn, and especially how to solve problems and keep going when it is difficult. For math through high school level/early university, I'd suggest Art of Problem Solving (if you can handle it). It teaches by having people solve problems rather than presenting mathematical techniques to memorize. Some of them are straightforward, but many are tricky problems and fun puzzles with elegant solutions. It helps you gain a good sense for numbers and problem solving, and an appreciation for the beauty of math. The teaching method helps you intuitively understand rules rather than memorize them. They also have a nice gamified online practice system (Alcumus) to go along with the first half of their books. For some higher level, more applied areas like linear algebra there are some good coding-based courses like codingthematrix.com. Project Euler is also another good option for practicing math with programming.
• RossBencina 9y ago
  I agree with other comments that "learn maths" is too broad. You can take a university degree in maths and still be just at the beginning of "learning maths." I recommend refining your goal somehow: perhaps to learn math related to certain applications that you're interested in, or learn math in a certain area (e.g. high-school algebra, geometry, probability, discrete math, graph theory, calculus, pure math, abstract algebra, topology, etc). If you have not mastered high-school algebra and other pre-calculus subjects, you should start there; most other maths subjects will assume that you know these things. Calculus takes up a lot of space in upper high-school and early university courses -- but if you're a developer there may be other subjects that are more immediately useful to you (e.g. discrete math, linear algebra). I set out to "learn maths" (that's verbatim what it says on my personal Kanban board). In the end I took some university classes. For me they provided the structure and teachers to help me learn. Also, there is a difference between having an idea about what some math-thing is, and being able to pass an 3 hour closed-book exam in that topic. I agree that Khan Academy is a good learning resource that will provide structure to your learning: https://www.khanacademy.org/ https://www.khanacademy.org/ Purplemath is another good resource: http://www.purplemath.com/ http://www.purplemath.com/ YouTube is full of videos of people running through problems on any conceivable topic. Definitely search there for help. Once you've worked your way through the high school prerequisites, I'd recommend Linear Algebra as a good next course. It has many practical applications, and is also an entry point towards pure math subjects like Abstract Algebra. Also, you don't need to know any calculus to study linear algebra. I like Gilbert Strang's OCW course: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-06-linear-algebra-spring-2010/video-lectures/ https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-06-linear-algebra... Finally, mathematics is HUGE. The following will give you a bit of an idea: The Map of Mathematics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmJ-4B-mS-Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmJ-4B-mS-Y
• laichzeit0 9y ago
  Book of Proof is hands down the best book to start with. https://www.people.vcu.edu/~rhammack/BookOfProof/ https://www.people.vcu.edu/~rhammack/BookOfProof/ I’ve worked through the whole book twice because I loved it so much.
• elcapitan 9y ago
  Method-wise it could be helpful to get a (lightweight) computer algebra software and learn how to use it and how to explore knowledge using it. One thing you won't have when you're out on your own is a method to just try out stuff and verify that it is correct, or to get better visualizations quickly. Often you will get stuck with something and need a different angle (which teachers or other students could normally provide). Then you can just open the software and play with it. One place to do that for free on a basic level would be Wolfram Alpha: https://www.wolframalpha.com/examples/math/ https://www.wolframalpha.com/examples/math/ Edit: (I mean this in addition to the learning resources like books and videos)
  • dvddgld 9y ago
    This is good advice, and Wolfram Alpha is magical!
  • mkl 9y ago
    Personally, I wouldn't recommend Wolfram Alpha, or anything proprietary. If you have some programming knowledge (as OP is likely to), Sympy and Matplotlib are much more capable and controllable (and free!). I think if you're building up skills and knowledge, it should be towards something you have control over and can use in any situation without worrying about licences, cost, etc. At my university, we teach undergrad engineers Matlab, and it just seems like an expensive clunky dead end to me (though their numerical methods knowledge should be transferable).
    • tzs 9y ago
      > Personally, I wouldn't recommend Wolfram Alpha, or anything proprietary. If you have some programming knowledge (as OP is likely to), Sympy and Matplotlib are much more capable and controllable (and free!). If one doesn't mind proprietary, though, and wants even more capable and controllable, Mathematica on a Raspberry Pi is pretty cool, and is free (beer) and is included in the default install of Raspbian.
    • elcapitan 9y ago
      I think for starting from scratch these software library interfaces (that is what they are) create way more problems than they solve, if OP is not experienced enough to use them. That doesn't mean they can't get around to use them finally, but for exploring a space a tool like Alpha that is both evaluating as well as explaining seems much more useful. Interacting with Sympy and Matplotlib seems like something you would do when you have already a solid understanding of what you want to achieve.
• lalala1995 9y ago
  I am not a maths major, however as I currently self-studying Mathematics, so I hope this would come as a good reference points for you. I think we both should prepare for a long journey, cause it is the nature of maths. I prefer formal and classic textbooks/notes as I think they are the best resources. Mathematics has been around for a long long time, keeping things up to date isn't really what should most concerns you. [0] : https://www.quantstart.com/articles/How-to-Learn-Advanced-Mathematics-Without-Heading-to-University-Part-1 https://www.quantstart.com/articles/How-to-Learn-Advanced-Ma... This article aims at kick-starting a career in quant, but the bullet points are really similar to any undergraduate program. [1] : Schaum's series Really good textbooks on basic maths, helped me a lot on those maths modules during my study. [2] : Any Massive Open Online Course of your choices. I am currently using MIT OCW. They are basically an Undergrad Course minus interaction with lecturer. You should ask some of your maths friends to help you out. Good, intuitively explanation in person helps a lot. [3] : And last but not least, have fun while doing it. You can participate in maths competition, watch Youtube videos( 3Blue1brown / Numberphile) Read Magazines and Journals too, admires the Apollonian aesthetic of Mathematics. Maths is one of the few subjects where nature > nurture, I think ( and observed). But take heart.
• timkofu 9y ago
  Khan academy. I decided to relearn all math from scratch and now I'm almost done with Algebra 1. It's pretty good.
• watwut 9y ago
  I would suggest to browse through coursera and pick something free and easy (since you labeled yourself pre-highschool). If it turns out too difficult, dont worry, unsign and pick something else. I never tried Khan Academy, but people seem to praise that too. Moreover, maybe just taking high school math book and exercises book would be fine. Most importantly, at stage you are at, learning math should consist of doing a lot of exercises - with increasing difficulty. Just like with sports, you cant learning it by reading theory only. Pick up book with a lot of exercises and do homework if you sign to some course. The rule of thumb is, that if you can solve all exercises without having to think or being occasionally frustrated, then the exercises book is too easy for you. If you have difficulties, then it means that you are learning. (If you end up completely stuck then you need something easier.) Videos and such are fine, but really really focus on exercises.
  • alexdowad 9y ago
    I found Khan Academy really helped with high-school algebra, single-variable calculus, and especially multi-variable calculus (the visualizations were great). Khan Academy's linear algebra course was awful and I dropped out there.
• ymgch 9y ago
  I am studying from this MOOC, really good! https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:ASUx+MAT170x+2T2017/course/ https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:ASUx+MAT170x+2T201... Next month will go for Calculus.
• kuroshit 9y ago
  Firstly, don't use those books that suggest to teach you more than one subject at a time, in a traditional way. In mathematics those kind of books do not work, at least in my honest opinion that is. What I mean by this is that, you will have some knowledge over the subjects taught by the book but you will have no understanding what so ever, or it won't be good enough in the long run. As you said, the problem was that you didn't pay any attention while in high school. It was because you had no interest, and if you try to self-learn mathematics the same way you tried learn basic maths in school, then you will also fail. The answer to all this is better books or a different kind of approach. I should mention that this is all from my own ongoing experience. There are traditional books that cover high school math[0]. And there are bad ones and good ones. The good ones still throw definitions and theorems at you, but it's more clear and concise, and most importantly understandable. Now comes the new kind of books which try a different approach to the subject at hand. They try to give more understanding that anything else. I only read "Burn Math Class" by Jason Wilkes and "Math, Better Explained" by Kalid Azad. These books lack exercises, which are, in my opinion, as important as understanding. But one doesn't work without the other. As for the future just follow this[1] so that you won't get information paralysis or other difficulties that come when there are a lot of choices. [0] https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/self-study-basic-high-school-mathematics/ https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/self-study-basic-high... [1] https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/micromass-insights-on-how-to-self-study-mathematics.868968/ https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/micromass-insights-on-...
• jimnotgym 9y ago
  I studied my 'college level' maths with the Open University. The materials were excellent, being designed specifically for self learning and they offer access to a tutor too. OU courses also give you proper qualifications. I am not sure how it works for non UK students. open.ac.uk However I did mine before the cuts to higher education in the UK and the courses are much more expensive now. This is very sad as it enabled me to change careers.
  • IndrekR 9y ago
    Second that! OU math courses were really good. This involves the materials and tutor support. Took them in 2003..2004, so things may have changed.
• bryanph_ 9y ago
  There is no such thing as "bottoms up" in mathematics, I think a relatively broad examination of mathematics might be useful so that you can discover what is relevant to the subjects you are actually interested in. I learned this the hard way. Here you have Feynman talking on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaUlqXRPMmY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaUlqXRPMmY Finding a real world use case for the math you learn will be crucial if you self-study to keep yourself motivated to keep going.
• undecidabot 9y ago
  I really enjoyed reading "Discrete Mathematics with Applications" by Susanna S. Epp. It's very accessible. Having a good understanding of algebra should be enough. For programmers, Discrete Mathematics is arguably the most relevant discipline of Math. Yegge wrote a long but interesting post on this subject [1]. [1] http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2006/03/math-for-programmers.html http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2006/03/math-for-programmers...
• synthmeat 9y ago
  I’m going to go with a few assumptions here: a) You don’t do this full time. b) By “bottoms up” you just mean “with firm grasp on fundamentals”, not logic/set/category/type theory approach. c) You are skilled with programming/software in general. In a way, you’re ahead of math peers in that you don’t need to do a lot of problems by hand, and can develop intuition much faster through many software tools available. Even charting simple tables goes a long way. Another thing you have going for yourself is - you can basically skip high school math and jump right in for the good stuff. I’d recommend getting great and cheap russian recap of mathematics up to 60s [1] and a modern coverage of the field in relatively light essay form [2]. Just skimming these will broaden your mathematical horizons to the point where you’re going to start recognizing more and more real-life math problems in your daily life which will, in return, incite you to dig further into aspects and resources of what is absolutely huge and beautiful landscape of mathematics. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Content-Methods-Meaning-Volumes/dp/0486409163 https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Content-Methods-Meaning-V... [2] https://www.amazon.com/Princeton-Companion-Mathematics-Timothy-Gowers/dp/0691118809 https://www.amazon.com/Princeton-Companion-Mathematics-Timot...
  • sidcool 9y ago
    What's your opinion of Mathematics for computer science?
    • synthmeat 9y ago
      Have no opinion - haven't read it and Amazon has no preview for it.
      • ruraljuror 9y ago
        If we're talking about the same book, it is available for free: https://courses.csail.mit.edu/6.042/spring17/mcs.pdf https://courses.csail.mit.edu/6.042/spring17/mcs.pdf I bought the book for sale on Amazon. The printed version seems like a print-on-demand copy of the free PDF. The paper size is 8.5x11 and the layout is the same. I'm a little suspicious of the publisher. I have only used the book as a reference for a few sections. The style is very approachable.
• ll350 9y ago
  I almost lol'ed when I read this, but I think I have good suggestion for you. "Maths - A Student Survival Guide" by Jenny Olive: https://www.amazon.com/Maths-Students-Survival-Self-Help-Engineering/dp/0521017076 https://www.amazon.com/Maths-Students-Survival-Self-Help-Eng... She basically starts out with the simplest algebra (fractions) and gradually works up to topics in 1st semester Calculus. And she starts each chapter with a short quiz to test yourself and skip ahead if already know the material. This book is great for what you are describing, if I'm understanding you. I picked it up when I was preparing to return to college after being away for many years. I supplemented it with another book I highly recommend: "Mastering Technical Mathematics" by Stan Gibilisco and Norman Crowhurst: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Technical-Mathematics-Third-Gibilisco/dp/0071494480 https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Technical-Mathematics-Third... I found that Jenny Olive's book was well designed and preferred it's style to any math textbook I have ever used. Even so occasionally I would get bored while working thru it. That is when I flip thru the Stan Gibilisco's book, which was full of interesting looking problems and examples. When I would try to solve one of them, it would become apparent that I still need to work on the fundamental concepts that were prerequisites for solving the problem. Thus I would return to Jenny Olive's book right where I left off, re-energized by the desire to master those fundamentals that she covers so well.
• fao_ 9y ago
  The OpenStax textbooks are exemplary: https://openstax.org/subjects/math https://openstax.org/subjects/math
• nhaehnle 9y ago
  I'll make an unconventional suggestion that, in addition to just brushing up on high-school mathematics, you should read Gödel, Escher, Bach by Hofstadter. It's a very meandering book, but it contains a lot of interesting ideas related to math and probably one of the best ways of teaching you about formal systems, which is really crucial to the axiomatic approach of "real" math.
• mamazaco 9y ago
  We've got just the right course for you at passyourmath.com
• elvirs 9y ago
  2 + 2 is 4 minus 1 that's 3 quick maths.
• whitepoplar 9y ago
  This book: https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Content-Methods-Meaning-Dover-ebook/dp/B00GUP46MC https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Content-Methods-Meaning-D...
• mathgenius 9y ago
  Nothing beats having a (good) teacher. Self-learning, no matter how smart you are, is pitifully slow without a teacher. Half an hour with a good teacher can save you weeks of table head-butting. (But obviously you can't rely only on the teacher.) As for books, it's not a spectator sport: you gotta do it yourself. Read a sentence, then work it out yourself with pen & paper. You can't get it just from reading alone. Finally: in mathematics there's many many roads to Rome! If something isn't working for you, try another way.
  • phugoid 9y ago
    If OP lives in a city, it shouldn't be hard to find a sharp college kid who will tutor.
  • iliketosleep 9y ago
    I disagree with the general statement that leaning maths is "pitifully slow without a teacher". So long as one has structure (e.g. some kind of syllabus) and has access to google, then learning can proceed very efficiently indeed. In addition, by being able to work through difficulties independently you can "be your own master" so to speak, earning the confidence to solve new and difficult problems without assistance. Having said that, I have come across people who have absolutely no apitutude for maths and definitely need a teacher. In a matsh class, there's usually one one set of people who kind of just "get it" straight away, and another set who struggle despite studying hard. As you said, there are many roads to Rome, and the best road may or may not involve a teacher depending on the individual.
    • darkxanthos 9y ago
      An author of a book is still a teacher... we’re just debating the personalization of the teaching at this point.
      • TheTrotters 9y ago
        But then this recommendation becomes vacuous. No one is recommending learning math by deriving everything yourself.
• goldenkey 9y ago
  Bill Shillito's lecture series for Project Polymath is by a mile, the best introduction to higher level mathematics. It requires absolutely no prerequisite knowledge. Introduction to Higher Mathematics: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZzHxk_TPOStgPtqRZ6Kz.. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZzHxk_TPOStgPtqRZ6Kz.... If you find he talks a bit slow, change your playback speed to 1.5x. Enjoy! :-)
• tzs 9y ago
  > My current proficiency level is pre-high school mathematics as I didn't pay much attention in high school, learning effectively nothing. I took a look at your other comments and submissions, to try to get an idea of whether or not you are a programmer. The fact that you are on HN makes the odds pretty good that you are or were, but there are enough people here who are not that I didn't want to assume. It's relevant because programming requires thinking in ways that overlap a fair bit with the kind of thinking required in mathematics, so whether or not you are/were a programmer would affect my recommendations. What I found puzzles me, particularly concerning your current "pre-high school" proficiency level. In a post a few days ago, you said that you are "graduating a university with a civil engineering degree in a few months" [1]. Most sources say that civil engineering requires calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, complex analysis, and probability and statistics. I'm having trouble understanding how you could have gotten into a university civil engineering program in the first place if you math proficiency level is really just pre-high school, let alone got to within a few months of graduation. Also in that post, you are asking a quite similar question to this one, except it is about CS fundamentals instead of about math from the ground up: > Hi, I am a front-end developer since 2 years freelancing for local clients. A week back I fell in love with computer internals and now want to learn CS fundamentals and become a full time software engineer. ... > Could you give me a roadmap for how I should go about learning CS fundamentals? What books and papers should I read? How did you learn, what step and approaches did you take? I'm not normally suspicious of these types of questions...but something seems off here. If the question is on the up and up, and you really do only have pre-high school math, take a look at ck12.org [2]. Go to one of their subjects on that page, such as algebra, and click it. On that page, click where it says "FlexBook Textbooks". That will take you to some freely available textbooks meant for K-12. Click where appropriate to get the high school ones. These should give you the high school math you are missing. I think you can also find on that site material for teachers, which could help for self-study. Get this material down cold...it's not all that college level stuff is going to assume you know it well, so push through even if it sometimes is not a lot of fun. If you need something fun while going through the high school stuff, take a look at the books that collect Martin Gardner's old "Mathematical Games" columns from Scientific American. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16506771 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16506771 [2] https://www.ck12.org/student/ https://www.ck12.org/student/
• baby 9y ago
  Go in a store, look at math books and find out one that looks like it: * teaches you things you don't know * relies on things you know for the most part * do it well You're in luck, a few years ago pedagogy in math was not really a thing. Now we have khanacademy and plenty of other courses (Coursera, Udemy, ...) and youtube videos to help you. There are different goals when you're learning math. Do you just want to get more exposure? Then focus on youtube videos (subscribe to some math channels) and novel-type of books. You want to get a deep understanding of some area in math like algebra or number theory? Then you're going to have to buy these books I told you about and do the exercises in them. If you've chosen your book well, they will have good explanations on how to solve these if you get stuck. In any case, exercising is the way to go. For those who recommend a good teacher, I think this is only a good advice if you're just starting and too many concepts are scary to you, but if you're already have a good basis then good videos, online courses and text books are enough and even better than a teacher.
• lordnacho 9y ago
  I'm looking for recommendations for the same question, but for someone who did graduate Engineering and Econ, and does a lot of coding. There's a lot of mathematical fundamentals they don't teach you while you're learning a whole variety of applied math. Off the top the pieces we did: - Linear Algebra - Computation (big-O etc) - Vector calculus - Finite Element methods - SDEs, PDEs - Discrete math (graphs, cryptography, number theory, etc) - Complex analysis (used a lot in EE)
• rorykoehler 9y ago
  MIT Open Courseware is great
• dprophecyguy 9y ago
  I know people are recommending a lot of books here but I want to say this, I know a lot of you guys might going to shit on me but telling someone about 5-6 book in order to self-learn maths is never going to help. I see that when someone people ask for help instead of relating what he is really asking for that he wants to understand and learn math people start telling the names of these books that they knew about not thinking about the effect that straight up throwing 6 book titles will do no good to the person. So now I have defined the problem I will tell you only one resource I know its bit of understatement but I think Learning math from Khan Academy would be sufficient for you. And once you find something on Khan Academy and you are done with it. I will recommend you this site www.brilliant.org And if you still want to practice just search for test question papers and cheat sheet on the topic you want to practice. Print the cheat sheet beside you, and do as many questions you can with the help of cheat sheet. To the person who is asking the question and people who are writing the answers I just want to say that knowing a lot of good resources to go through, is not the learning. Now I see this thing happening everywhere, people want to know about the process so much that instead of doing what needs to be done they kind of start storing this metadata of the process and this thing is happening a lot on the internet. People know a lot of resources, a lot of tutorials and video and a shit load of things. But when it comes to execution and practice I can hardly say only a very few might have gone to complete what they have started. I am saying all this because I have gone through this cycle myself I have wasted 2 years of my life. Collecting resources related to ML, web development, Math, Psychology, Philosophy you say whatever you find interesting I will tell you some famous book or MOOC course on that. So I will ask everyone this question take a look on 1 back of your life, if you guys were trying to learn anything do a retrospective whether you really have learned anything, write things that are going right, right things going wrong and start doing things, making project, solving problems really doing the things not just trying to perfect the process. I can go on but I think I have made the point if I keep writing more I think I will contradict myself that it's not about what and how info you get it's about you get something actionable out of something. If some 2-minute video gives you something actionable to do rather than going through a 2-hour chapter in textbook there is no point of going through 2-hour chapter. Knowledge is all about applying not learning the facts and saying it around to your friends I know it feels good but nothing comes out of it in real life.
• dsacco 9y ago
  Rather than simply give you a list of resources or textbooks, I’d like to give you a broad “map” of the various domains of mathematics, this way you understand what you’re working towards. I’d also like to recommend how you can maximally optimize your self-study, as someone who mostly self-learned enough mathematics to be active in research. I think this meta-direction is just as important as the resources you choose to learn from. Mathematics, in my opinion, can be divided in two very major ways ways as concerns pedagogy. First, most mathematics computation-based or proof-based. Math research in general is about proving things, and most “serious” math books after a certain level are almost exclusively about proving properties instead of calculating results. On the other hand, most applied mathematics is computationally inclined, and uses methods derived from research. Here is a simple example: I can ask you to calculate the square root of 2 or I can ask you to prove that it’s irrational. It’s important for you to know what you want. Do you, for example, want to achieve theoretical mastery of linear algebra that subsumes e.g. solving linear equations, or do you just want to be able to execute the computational methods proficiently? As you get into higher mathematics the line here blurs, but different resources may still emphasize one approach or the other. Now let’s talk about the domains of mathematics. Broadly speaking, we can divide them into algebra and analysis. More accurately, we can divide their methods into algebraic or analytic. Algebra is concerned with mathematical structures and their properties, like fields, groups, rings, vector spaces, etc. Analysis is concerned with functions, surfaces and continuity. I like to say that in algebra, it’s difficult to identify what you’re studying and whether it’s worth studying it, but once you do there is a lot of machinery that’s relatively straightforward to prove. On the other hand, in analysis it’s easy to find things worth studying, but difficult to prove interesting things about them. For example, if you can prove that what you’re studying satisfies all the conditions of a field, you immediately can prove many other things about it. On the other hand, the toolbox of analysis is widely applicable to many things, but it often seems like you’re trying a hodge podge of techniques, and the proofs can look kind of magical at first. For a concrete example, try to prove that 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + n = n(n + 1)/2. Now let’s take a tour of mathematics at the undergraduate level. In theoretical (but not necessarily pedagogical) order we have: set theory, calculus, analysis, topology and probability theory on the analytic side; and set theory, linear algebra and abstract algebra on the algebraic side. Analysis can be further subdivided into real analysis, complex analysis, functional analysis, harmonic analysis, Fourier analysis, as you move from foundational material to specialized material. Similarly abstract algebra divides into group theory, ring theory, finite fields, Galois theory, etc. Probability breaks down into discrete versus continuous random variables, measure theory, statistics (on the applied side), etc. Here is my concrete advice regarding learning the material. First, internalize the idea that mathematics is “not a spectator sport.” You learn it by doing it, not just by reading it. Every time you’re sitting down with a textbook, attempt every exercise in good faith, and take an author’s lack of a proof as an invitation to prove it yourself. The first time you read a chapter, read it briskly, skipping over what you don’t know to get to the end of the chapter. Let that material percolate in your mind a bit, even though you won’t understand much of it. Then read the chapter again, but slowly. Write down every definition, theorem and proof. Try to prove each theorem yourself before reading the author’s proof. For anything unclear, search for different examples of that concept or for different proofs of that theorem. Then attempt at least half of the exercises at the end of the chapter. You will struggle a lot, and you will be demotivated a lot. It will feel frustrating and you will be humbled continually. But I can promise you that if you keep challenging yourself this way you will continue to improve. It’s not enough to find the right textbooks or the right resources, you need to study them the right way - in an active, focused way. That brings me to my second piece of advice. There are many good books and resources for any given topic. Different people respond more favorably to different types of exposition. Sometimes you’ll receive a book suggestion and realize it’s not for you - that’s fine! It might still be a good book. For example, I rather like Rudin’s Principles of Mathematical Analysis, but please don’t try to learn from it without a teacher! For any given topic, find four or five strong suggestions, preferably all at your level of capability at the time. Then read the preface and the first 10 pages of the first chapter in each book. Look at the table of contents to understand not only the coverage of topics, but the pedagogical arrangement of topics. Proceed with the book you have the strongest affinity for, and use other books when the author is unclear. Finally, now I will give you textbook suggestions: 1. Set Theory: Naive Set Theory, Halmos. 2. Calculus: Single Variable Calculus, Stewart; Multivariable Calculus, Stewart; Calculus, Spivak. 3. Linear Algebra: Linear Algebra and Its Applications, Strang; Linear Algebra Done Right, Axler; Linear Algebra, Hoffman & Kunz; Finite Dimensional Vector Spaces, Halmos. 4. Analysis: Analysis I, Tao; Analysis II, Tao; Understanding Analysis, Abbott; Principles of Mathematical Analysis, Rudin. 5. Abstract Algebra: A Book of Abstract Algebra, Pinter; Abstract Algebra, Dummit & Foote; Algebra, Artin; Algebra, Hungerford; Algebra, MacLane & Birkhoff; Algebra: Chapter 0, Aluffi. Start with that, and once you've gained sufficient mathematical maturity look for more targeted and specialized resources. I also recommend that you read Concrete Mathematics by Graham, Knuth, Patashnik; and Mathematics: Its Content, Methods and Meaning by Kolmogorov, Aleksandrov and Lavrent'ev. These two, especially the latter, are good for covering a variety of mathematics at once. They are good for both learning and mathematical "culture." I can't stress this enough: it's important that you really optimize the way you're studying and what your goals are, instead of trying to collect as many book recommendations as possible.
• castle-bravo 9y ago
  I suggest you take a look at Project Euler [0]. It's a bunch of math puzzles that usually require programming to solve. In order to solve most problems in a reasonable amount of time, you'll need to use results from number theory and other areas. Once you've used a result, you can try to prove it or to understand the proof. Project Euler emphasizes number theory, which is the most approachable field of mathematics for total beginners because the background you need is just addition and multiplication. You should be able to make progress in number theory much faster than by taking the traditional route through calculus. Another advantage of the Project Euler approach is that you'll learn how to put math into code, which is fun and tremendously valuable. Another thing I recommend is learning geometry [1]. The way to do this is to use a ruler and compass to draw various shapes and then prove that those shapes have certain properties (e.g. prove that an angle really is a right angle). I think this approach also has more merit than the traditional approach, because you learn how to write proofs without driving yourself to exhaustion and frustration with calculus exercises. Geometry is really fun if you have a visual bent. I also suggest learning linear algebra before calculus, because it's more useful to programmers and more accessible. The way to learn linear algebra is to study OpenGL and OpenCV with an emphasis on graphics and machine vision theory. Making things work in OpenGL is more rewarding than just doing exercises out of a textbook. At a certain point, you'll find that you can't progress any further in number theory or geometry without calculus and complex analysis, at which point calculus should be a fun challenge for you instead of a tough slog. You'll need multi-variable differential calculus and linear algebra to understand neural networks. In summary: Have fun! Math is fun! Learn to write proofs early on! Watch Numberphile [2]! [0]: https://projecteuler.net/ https://projecteuler.net/ [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclidean_geometry https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclidean_geometry [2]: http://www.numberphile.com/ http://www.numberphile.com/
• Helmet 9y ago
  I taught myself Calculus through differential equations using “Paul’s Math Notes”: http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu Incredible resource, he walks through every problem step by step, and has a knack for gauging the appropriate way to progress in difficulty. Also, you can use Wolfram’s derivative and integral solver to give a step by step solution if you’re ever stuck.
• ska 9y ago
  The simplest thing I can offer is that you cannot learn mathematics by reading, watching, or hearing about it - you have to do it yourself. The way most people run into trouble is by skipping over new concepts quickly thinking “I get that”, and then ending up in a real muddle with a later concept that builds on it. There are better books and lectures and weaker ones, but none are a replacement for working problems.
• jostylr 9y ago
  Recommend Guesstimation by Weinstein and Adams as the first topic to master. Getting comfortable with numbers and their sizes will make everything else easier. Also, getting in the habit of doing rough explorations is an essential skill in exploring all later material. Technical Mathematics with Calculus by Calter is a single volume that covers stuff up through calculus in a, well, technical manner. For a more understanding way, try Elements of Mathematics by Stillwell. If you get past Calculus, I recommend Vector Calculus, Linear Algebra, and Differential Forms by Hubbard. It gives an amazingly clear viewpoint on the higher level analysis and algebra topics, both numerically and abstractly. For statistics, you might try something like Think Stats by Downey which emphasizes explorations with Python, real data, and Bayesian statistics. As a faithful companion in your journey, use something like GeoGebra or Desmos to really explore the visual side of all the topics. Computers can do the tedious computations. Your task is to learn why we are doing this and how it is being done. When you get to calculus, learn what Newton's method is doing and appreciate how amazing it is.
• francasso 9y ago
  My own take on it: Lang's books about the basics I find lovely - Basic stuff: Basic Mathematics - Lang - One variable Calculus: A First Course in Calculus - Lang - Multi variable Calculus: Calculus of Several Variables - Lang - Linear Algebra: Linear Algebra - Lang - Number theory: An Introduction to the Theory of Numbers - Niven, Zuckerman, Montgomery Some more advanced stuff - Algebra: Algebra - Artin or Algebra, Chapter 0 - Aluffi - Complex Analysis: Functions of One Complex Variable I - Conway - Probability Basics: An Introduction to Probability Theory and its Applications I - Feller - Real Analysis and functional analysis basics: Real Analysis - Folland - Basic Differential Geometry: Elementary Differential Geometry - O'Neill - Riemann Surfaces (algebraic take): Algebraic Curves - Fulton - Differential Topology: Differential Topology - Guillemin, Pollack - Riemann Surfaces (analytic take): Compact Riemann Surfaces, an Introduction to Contemporary Mathematics - Jost - Modern Differential Geometry: Lectures on The Geometry of Manifolds - Nicolaescu - Functional analysis: Fundamentals of the Theory of Operator Algebras I - Kadison, Ringrose - Introduction to the Index Theory of which you actually have already seen some in the Riemann Surfaces books with the Riemann-Roch theorem: Index Theory with Applications to Mathematics and Physics - Bleecker, Doob Bavnbek - Homological Algebra: An Introduction to Homological Algebra - Weibel - Algebra for algebraic geometry: Commutative Ring Theory - Matsumura - Soft introduction to schemes: The Geometry of Schemes - Eisenbud, Harris - Algebraic geometry: Algebraic Geometry - Robin Hartshorne This should get you up more or less to what was current in the '60s :) Additional methodological note: I'm not suggesting going linearly through all these books. Well, perhaps going linearly thorough the basics would be a good idea, but after that I would follow my own interests. The important thing is really to have pen and paper and work things out by yourself, not just reading the book. I'm not saying you should try to prove all the theorems yourself or do all the exercises, that would take an unrealistic amount of time, but you can try to think about a theorem before reading its proof to see if you have a sense of which road is more likely to lead to a proof, and then try to reproduce the proof with pen and paper after having read it to check if you actually understood it.
• UncleEntity 9y ago
  I'm horrible at math, really, really bad. When I need to do something math like I usually find some code that does something similar, figure out what it's up to and adapt it to my needs. Pretty pictures help a lot too. Learned enough linear algebra this way to be productive, made a pie menu addon for blender that got adopted by other people and eventually became builtin -- mostly to bughunt and find missing chunks of the python API though. Actually, now that I think about it, I pretty much learn everything this way.
• chx 9y ago
  A lot of books listed here can be used to scare anyone away from maths. Too dry for starters. I would say you must start with Rozsa Peter's Playing with Infinity http://a.co/6MMCE5g http://a.co/6MMCE5g to quote an Amazon review > This book is a gem. I read it as a highschool student, and it played an important role in enticing me to become a mathematician. Its emphasis is not on practical applications or on solving funny problems: instead, it is an inspiring introduction to some of the great intellectual challenges in the history of mathematics. Another in a similar vein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Two_Three..._Infinity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Two_Three..._Infinity You can go and study the textbooks after.
• no_wizard 9y ago
  I found https://artofproblemsolving.com/ https://artofproblemsolving.com/ to be invaluable and I was at a state you were a few years ago when I found it. The online problems and the workbooks with the PDFs where awesome. I really like it tho it can be cheesy sometimes it really covers all the way through to calc very well there’s online quizzes/work problems as well as ones in the books/PDFs and it comes with a video series
• deleted 9y ago
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• desio 9y ago
  Check out my study plan here: https://github.com/desicochrane/data-science-masters https://github.com/desicochrane/data-science-masters It's still evolving especially towards the latter parts - but the earlier math progression is pretty solid.
• aphextron 9y ago
  >My current proficiency level is pre-high school mathematics as I didn't pay much attention in high school, learning effectively nothing. Advice from someone who was in the same position: Take a class. Multiple classes. Go sign up for a Mathematics AS at your nearest community college right now. You will never know enough of what you don't know to learn this stuff on your own. A lot of it is just doing the painful repetition work of practicing problems over and over again, which is hard to force yourself into without a "coach" pushing you. Having a cohort of students to work through problems with is also priceless. And the drive of having accountable grading will keep you at it regularly. It can be a bit awkward at first feeling stupid not knowing what a logarithm is in a room full of 18 year olds. But it's the only way to really get there. I went from high school dropout who didn't know how to add fractions to passing calculus in 18 months.
  • Ultimatt 9y ago
    Depends what your goal is. I cant imagine anything worse than High School style teaching of mathematics. Its awful. That repetitive calculation, entirely unnecessary for almost any real world situation. Almost every time you are doing repetitive calculation what you should have been taught was a second or third conceptualisation of whatever maths you are looking at. So linear algebra I was only ever taught numerically in computer science. WHICH IS CRIMINAL. It has such an obvious and more easily understood geometric interpretation. The same is true of calculus, learn it in physics. Seriously. Do high school physics /and/ maths if you wish to understand calculus. Otherwise you've got someone who probably did a pure maths degree teaching you something that was created by physicists for a reason, that reason has a physical and real world interpretation not to mention a geometric one. Another good example is in chemistry you might learn statistical mechanics, in computer science or electronic engineering you might learn information theory. If those two classes were taught back to back for both groups of people they would actually deeply understand the mathematics behind it. Personally I've always found learning maths in a pure way incredibly challenging. As an adult I think its a lot easier to learn maths through something that has physical or meaningful interpretation. You can then draw on your actual life experience to understand the maths.
    • 9y ago
• nickpsecurity 9y ago
  The last time people asked, I collected the responses so I could do the same thing as you. Note that I'm wanting to learn it in a way where I can do proofs. So, I have general-purpose books and stuff for that. I just ordered the three books I've seen pop up the most. Although 2 are in the mail, Concepts of Modern Mathematics by Stewart just got here yesterday. It had an awesome opening that made me wish the math I was taught in school was done like this back when I went. Makes newer stuff make a lot more sense, too. I included a link to Dover that has a Google Preview button on it where you can read full, first chapter for free to see if it's what you like. Other two are more about exploring and proving things which may or may not interest you. I added them in case anyone is reading your question to learn that stuff. Concepts of Modern Mathematics by Stewart https://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Modern-Mathematics-Dover-Books/dp/0486284247 https://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Modern-Mathematics-Dover-Boo... Dover Version with Google Preview Button http://store.doverpublications.com/0486284247.html http://store.doverpublications.com/0486284247.html Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning: Numbers, Sets, and Functions https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Mathematical-Reasoning-Numbers-Functions/dp/0521597188 https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Mathematical-Reasoning-N... How to Prove It by Velleman https://www.amazon.com/How-Prove-Structured-Approach-2nd/dp/0521675995 https://www.amazon.com/How-Prove-Structured-Approach-2nd/dp/...
• halayli 9y ago
  most comments here recommend books, but what's probably more important is how you learn math from these books.
• dahart 9y ago
  A lot of great resources and suggestions here, and I see some discussion of books vs teachers. Let me suggest a strategic approach: decide on a goal that is not math, but is something you're interested in and requires math to achieve. Learning math for math's sake is a bit abstract, and can go many different directions, so it might help to pick a specific application of math as your vehicle, to be both motivated and focused. For example, I love computer graphics, and making pictures via programming forces me to learn programming and math, and sometimes a bit of art too. It's hard to play with ShaderToy, for example, without doing some math, and how much math depends on what kind of picture you want to make.
• hugocbp 9y ago
  So, I decided to go back to study Math from the very basics to try some more advanced Data Science stuff later and I'm really enjoying Krista King's courses on Udemy. They are very clear and straight to the point. She currently has courses on Fundamentals of Math, Algebra (I and II on the same course), Calculus (I, II, III, in separate courses) and Geometry and Trigonometry. She is also preparing some Probability & Statistics course and later a Linear Algebra one. That is the only way I could self-learn Math without quitting after more than 12 years without doing math at all in real life. I was originally a Lawyer so I didn't care much for Math in school and didn't have anything relate to Math for all those years until now. I tried a bunch of other paths, like challenges, For Dummies books, more advanced University open courses... Nothing stuck until her courses. They are not free, but you can find basically permanent Udemy coupons to buy each course for USD 10. Here is her profile: https://www.udemy.com/user/kristaking/ https://www.udemy.com/user/kristaking/
• scranglis 9y ago
  To cover pre-high school through undergrad: https://brilliant.org https://brilliant.org
• pdm55 9y ago
  I've just been watching Michael van Biezen, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiGxYawhEp4QyFcX0R60YdQ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiGxYawhEp4QyFcX0R60YdQ, and Braden Mann, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFS_EnwXR7m_c1IyePCPhYA https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFS_EnwXR7m_c1IyePCPhYA, explain how to do Maths problems. These guys are good!
• james_niro 9y ago
  Sign up for pre-calc class on edx.org it is free and offered through ASU. First you take the test to see where your knowledge stands then you learn based on that test. They use ALEKS learning which is a great tool to learn online. Make sure to take notes and do the problems. My advise don’t pay for math at community colleges because they use the same tools but you have to pay somewhere between 300 to 500 for courses which is waste money.
• sonabinu 9y ago
  I started by working through some elementary math books meant for middle schoolers and high schoolers. Then took classes at community college and now learn on my own. At the initial stages, I needed a teacher and structure, especially with Calculus
• BeetleB 9y ago
  One thing I did not do while learning mathematics that I wish I had done: When you learn something new, actively look for interesting problems that can be solved with it. I mostly relied on the exercises (which are good to do), but since they were not problems I invented, I've forgotten most of the material. However, if you use mathematics to solve fun problems that you invent, you are more likely to remember it. And, to be honest, I suspect you also learn it better. Most people take a problem and try to learn the math to solve it. I suggest inverting the process. Learn the math, and seek out problems solved by that math. Don't be afraid to make it an "overkill" solution. Even if the problem has a simple solution, use your fancy new tools to solve it.
• sidcool 9y ago
  What is people's view on Mathematics for Computer science?
• duiker101 9y ago
  A lot of good resources here but does anyone have a place where I can find exercises for algebra and calculus? Even better if it were an android application.
  • laughingman2 9y ago
    https://brilliant.org/ https://brilliant.org/ has practise modules. Other than that I think https://www.khanacademy.org/ https://www.khanacademy.org/ has practise sessions too.
  • budadre75 9y ago
    you can simply find a book with solution manual.
• Dowwie 9y ago
  Khan Academy
• richardjdare 9y ago
  I guess I'm similar in that I left high school with very little mathematical knowledge. I've struggled with many many maths books over the years which usually assume you have a certain background, or don't explain things very well, or only explain things using notation which they don't explain. The books that helped me the most are "Mastering Mathematics", and "Mastering Advanced Pure Mathematics" both by Geoff Buckwell. They will take you through UK GCSE and A-Level maths, from nothing to calculus. They have plenty of examples and exercises to work through. Just start at the beginning and work through them. They are based on a UK curriculum though, so that may or may not be what you want.
• mathing 9y ago
  Khan academy. I also blundered my way through high school math, getting near-failing grades and quitting as soon as possible. I got super interested in it and while I was regularly studying khan academy was the best way of actually learning the material. The exercises are a bit slow but ideally you'd learn from the lectures and then supplement them with a book of just exercises.
• candu 9y ago
  There are several amazing suggestions in this thread already. I'll toss in vote N+1 for "How to Solve It" by Pólya: once you get past the hurdle of just understanding notation / language and some of the basic concepts, mathematics becomes much more about problem-solving. Aside from that... Oliver Byrne's Euclid: https://www.math.ubc.ca/~cass/euclid/byrne.html https://www.math.ubc.ca/~cass/euclid/byrne.html - a graphical treatment of Euclid's Elements. Much, much more accessible than earlier renditions, and a great introduction to methods of proof. Vi Hart's videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/Vihart https://www.youtube.com/user/Vihart - she does a wonderful job of conveying the wonder of mathematics in a clear, informative manner. A Mathematical Mosaic: https://www.amazon.ca/Mathematical-Mosaic-Patterns-Problem-Solving/dp/1895997283 https://www.amazon.ca/Mathematical-Mosaic-Patterns-Problem-S... - this was one of the books that got me excited about mathematics as a kid. The material is advanced by high school standards, but presented in a way that invites you to think / learn / generalize.
• 123212321 9y ago
  Work extremely slowly, possibly with a tutor through Principles of Mathematical Analysis by Rudin. The book lays down the real foundations of calculus and higher math. Learn the math as you come to it. Dont waste time going extensively through lower mathematics. You will get bored and life is too short for that.
• jbduler 9y ago
  I recommend the excellent (and free) book from Jean Gallier @ the Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania: Fundamentals of Linear Algebra and Optimization. Everything you need to know, all the way up to machine learning algs. Download here: http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~cis515/linalg.pdf http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~cis515/linalg.pdf Enjoy!
• tensor_rank_0 9y ago
  take pre-calculus and do every assignment immediately as it is assigned. then review before the next class. pre-calculus is designed to give people like you the tools to move onto the maths you want to learn. after that, echoing another top-level comment: take calculus and physics. take 2 semesters of each. after those 3 classes, you'll know more math than 90% of the world's population. more importantly you'll be prepared to move on to differential equations, linear algebra, and vector calculus.
• jbduler 9y ago
  In the videos series, Khan is excellent: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/multivariable-calculus/multivariable-derivatives https://www.khanacademy.org/math/multivariable-calculus/mult...
• rizn 9y ago
  I was in your position as well and my recommendation is to buy a good book. I personally chose Precalculus by James Stewart and it works for me. It's a thick 1000 pages book with excercises and tests. It quite well explains all topics, which you would have in high school (from basic arithmetics to everything you need to start calculus). I do maths in my spare time (a few hours a week) and I completed 700 pages over past 3 years. This year I should complete the book and be ready to do more advanced mathematics. 95% is self explanatory (if you focus and re-read) and explains well proofs. When I didn't understand something I found answer on google or asked a few questions on math stack exchange. My point. You can absolutely do maths on your own. You don't need classes with a teacher, but it only depends what kind person you are and what works for you. EDIT: Do all exercices and never skip to the next bit if you don't understand something from the previous part.
  • budadre75 9y ago
    You are very persistent! But the efficiency is too low, not to put you down but precalculus is not something you should spend so much time on, there are so much more to learn and so much more fun after precalc. At this rate, it's probably going to take you 10 years to complete calculus and differential equations, which typically college students take a year to finish and start applying. Plus there are abstract algebra, discrete mathematics, etc. I know you are probably having fun with the precalc topics, but trust me it's more fun afterwards. Imagine what you are learning now is from times before 17th Century, and you wanna catch up to all the fun today at that rate, it doesn't sound fun.
    • rizn 9y ago
      Thanks for your input :) Firstly, maths is just my hobby. I didn't pay much attention in my school years, but later in life I wanted to know more about maths. I'm a typical code monkey, which does business software and hardly needs any maths, so agian maths is just my interests and I don't foresee using it in my career. I might do more maths when I retire as maths is such a broad subject, it will keep me as a hobby to the rest of my life :). I'm taking it slow as a) I'm not in hurry, b) I want to have solid foundations in maths. I want to ensure I understand well basics and proofs and where they come from. I also do lots of exercices based on acquired knowledge. "Productivity" is not my main concern :) Interesting thing I found maths helps me with my work indirectly. In maths we encounter problems such as "a plane flew north at 300km/h and side wind east was 30km/h. After 2h, the plane changed direction 30deg...". You need to find all data and best formulas for the problem. It's like translating customer/project owner issues to technical ones. It's fun! I wish to progress my maths faster, but I can do only x hours a week and want to do it properly. I'm looking forward to more challenging 21st century maths!
• iamwil 9y ago
  Do the homework if you want to really understand it. Reading math isn't like reading fiction. You need to go slow, and you need to do the problems and the proofs to get it. Yes, ask for help when you get stuck. But there's really no way around grinding through the problems.
• buildfailure 9y ago
  May I recommend the NCERT math textbooks used in India. They are simple to follow and nicely organized as different levels. They are available for free on the NCERT website (website maybe a bit tough to navigate). The books cover stuff from basic algebra, geometry and calculus. After this you should be good to go for collegiate mathematics like analysis, multivariable calculus etc.
• asdf1234tx 9y ago
  By your early 20s you should know if you need a teacher, or just a guide, or no one but yourself(plus textbooks&internet), for medium level difficulty and down. If you have to ask, I'm pretty sure you need a teacher. For example, by the time I was in my last year of college, I regularly skipped 90% of class time, and showed up to take tests. I handed in assignments at instructor's office. I don't process auditory information all that great, but I'm extremely efficient and robust in my processing of visual information including the written word, graphics, pictures, and video. On some topics I have sought a mentor, with whom can provide a little guidance, and bounce ideas off of. But his is extremely far from the traditional instructor role. So in conclusion, most people do far better in class. But for me it's slow, tedious, distracting, and out of sync with my normal learning processes. The few other people that I know who are like me, also skip the classes and have done well. You'll know because from birth, you'll be an excellent test taker, get bored silly in classroom environments, and have likely read 1000 books or more in just two or three years. We never asked "do I need a class", we just stopped going.
• ZenoArrow 9y ago
  I'd like to learn vector calculus (to better understand Maxwell's Equations). Does anyone have any learning resources they could recommend? I've got this video in my Watch Later queue on YouTube, but if there are any other resources that give a clear introduction to the material I'd be interested in them. To give a bit of background, I learnt the basics of calculus back in school but I haven't used it in over 15 years, so I'm likely to need to get the basics down first. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsOoClvZmic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsOoClvZmic
  • ivan_ah 9y ago
    Wow, Herbert Gross is an amazing lecturer. Everything is planned out, and he's careful to avoid jargon. I wish all eLearning material was of this quality.
  • RossBencina 9y ago
    Edward Frenkel's UC Berkeley course: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaLOVNqqD-2GcoO8CLvCbprz2J0_1uaoZ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaLOVNqqD-2GcoO8CLvCb...
• tel 9y ago
  Probably not a perfect book for someone at the HS level, but just a bit past that I would HIGHLY recommend MacLane’s Mathematics Form and Function. It’s a revisionist history of mathematics aimed to demonstrate how ideas flow from one to another. He eliminates a lot of dead-ends and takes a perspective as to one “ought” to move from one subject or discovery to another. OTOH, the historical perspective is both readable and often a missing piece which makes other math tougher.
• forapurpose 9y ago
  Jeremy Kun (who is worth reading beyond this article) has a post with very useful insights: https://j2kun.svbtle.com/mathematicians-are-chronically-lost-and-confused https://j2kun.svbtle.com/mathematicians-are-chronically-lost... It begins (and there is far more of value in the post): Many people who are in this position, trying to learn mathematics on their own, have roughly two approaches. The first is to learn only the things that you need for the applications you’re interested in. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s akin to learning just enough vocabulary to fill out your tax forms. It’s often too specialized to give you a good understanding of how to apply the key ideas elsewhere. A common example is learning very specific linear algebra facts in order to understand a particular machine learning algorithm. It’s a commendable effort and undoubtedly useful, but in my experience this route makes you start from scratch in every new application. The second approach is to try to understand everything so thoroughly as to become a part of it. In technical terms, they try to grok mathematics. For example, I often hear of people going through some foundational (and truly good) mathematics textbook forcing themselves to solve every exercise and prove every claim “left for the reader” before moving on. This is again commendable, but it often results in insurmountable frustrations and quitting before the best part of the subject. And for all one’s desire to grok mathematics, mathematicians don’t work like this! The truth is that mathematicians are chronically lost and confused. It’s our natural state of being, and I mean that in a good way. ...
• dmurthy 9y ago
  I was in a similar situation a few years back but my weakness was calculus. I really had no grasp of what it was used for until I had to learn as part of my work. I was on the brink of losing my job if I hadn't. I had a very patient boss as mentor who spent hours teaching me the practical applications of it - remotely over phone. Now I love calculus. So I believe the best way to learn math is by finding areas where you are forced to apply it. And it is never too late. I learnt most of it after turning 30.
• naveen99 9y ago
  Herb Gross and Pavel Grinfeld are my favorite: http://lem.ma http://lem.ma https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rXOGLlKuvzU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rXOGLlKuvzU
• splitknot 9y ago
  You can self learn math to a certain point but eventually you will reach a subject where its introductory text requires a context not written plainly. This is easily observable in research. Researchers do not write papers with the goal that everyone understand their work but rather that those in their field understand so the work can be verified. You are then stuck either having to derive the mathematical principles you need or you will have to ask others for help.
• smnplk 9y ago
  This one is great for start. It has many exercises too. https://www.amazon.com/Maths-Students-Survival-Self-Help-Engineering/dp/0521017076 https://www.amazon.com/Maths-Students-Survival-Self-Help-Eng...
• your-nanny 9y ago
  A general comment: a teacher or tutor who will answer your questions is best. You can learn math on your own, but someone to keep you on the right path will save you so much time. Also, for textbooks, work through every example, step by step, and then do all exercises. Essential.
• agumonkey 9y ago
  I posted this thread on https://www.reddit.com/r/learnmath/ https://www.reddit.com/r/learnmath/ .. and now I realize that there are probably useful answers for sidyapa and others.
• urmish 9y ago
  A good way to start is learn set theory (start of with naive set theory Dover books are cheap: http://store.doverpublications.com/0486814874.html http://store.doverpublications.com/0486814874.html) And some introductory mathematical logic. From this you can immediately move to Analysis on the real line (up to Reimann integrals) Linear Algebra is also something you can start (Kenneth Hoffman and Ray Kunze https://www.amazon.com/Linear-Algebra-Kunze-Hoffman/dp/9332550077 https://www.amazon.com/Linear-Algebra-Kunze-Hoffman/dp/93325...) Once you are comfortable with Riemann Integrals, you can start attacking Complex Variables (John Conway has excellent springer texts: Functions of One Complex Variable Vol 1 and 2) Some texts you should look at after you understand basic set theory: Analysis: 1. [Michael_Spivak]_Calculus - good book for introduction to real analysis 2. [johnsonbaugh,pfaffenberger]_Foundations_of_Mathematical_Analysis - Dover publications 3. [Vladimir_A._Zorich]_Mathematical_Analysis_I - well written but less known. Recommend checking it out. 4. [Gerald_B._Folland]_Real_Analysis_Modern_techniques_and_their_applications - My top pick, but a tough read. 5. [Rudin_Walter]_Principles_of_Mathematical_Analysis - classic book Linear Algebra: 1. [David_Lay]_Linear_Algebra_and_Its_Applications - 2. [Friedberg,Insel,Spence]_Linear_algebra - Undergraduate level text 3. [Hoffman,Kunze]_Linear_Algebra_2nd_edition - Graduate level text. My top pick. 4. [Gilbert_Strang]_Introduction_to_Linear_Algebra - Undergraduate level linear algebra. Same guy has MIT OCW lectures. 5. [Peter_D._Lax]_Linear_Algebra_and_Its_Applications Complex Variables/Complex Analysis: 1. [John_Conway]_Functions_of_One_Complex_Variable_I - My top pick 2. [Lars_Ahlfors]_Complex_Analysis_(Third_Edition) - Classic. Not a big fan though.
• swframe2 9y ago
  For me "learning math" is a language translation process. The math text uses terms and symbols that are hard to remember. I just rewrite the math text to get it into a form I can read without stopping to figure out an unfamiliar term or symbol.
• justifier 9y ago
  find a problem without an answer(o) and try to answer it research as much as you can about the problem until you understand it well enough to explain it to someone else when you come across new concepts, research them.. recurse ;p if you like to program then try to write your own implementations of concepts as you learn them if you are unfamiliar with programming i would recommend trying it, you get to build this math you are learning and when complete you can develop intuitions by manipulating: constants, methods, models,..; as well as being a great learning aide.. debuggers as standins for instructors read original works: books,papers,..; where ideas are branched from the engineered complexity of the state of the art can obfuscate underlying concepts, and seeing how they were first formed can illuminate their present state these initial works can be very approachable because they often contain new concepts that need to be defined within them, whereas a paper referencing that initial work will often consider the concepts well known to anyone intending to read them and omit comprehensive description i think what is most important is that you research whatever is interesting to you (o) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unsolved_problems_in_mathematics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unsolved_problems_in_m...
  • recursivedweeb 9y ago
    good answer p . saying hello from canada, c.
• 8bitsrule 9y ago
  Depends on what kind of math you enjoy doing. If you're interested in practical applications, start by becoming an algebra ninja ... so good that just looking at a problem makes it fall apart. If you find something that's 'beautiful' (I never did :-( ), then scratch that itch.
• softwarefounder 9y ago
  - Hook yourself into online communities - Take a college course, PRIMARILY if you need to be pressured to finish your work (i.e. pass/fail). Otherwise, it might feel like a waste if you can understand the concepts through your own learning + communities.
• HaoZeke 9y ago
  I think you need to first decide your application before starting such a thing. There's no way to remember the entirety of mathematics, even if you do rote memorize and practice your way through it. You need to figure out which sub-discipline you can apply and follow through with it,
• ssvss 9y ago
  https://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/652p2a/what_are_your_favourite_maths_lectures_on_youtube/ https://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/652p2a/what_are_your_... Related thread in reddit, which I found useful.
• razib 9y ago
  depends on the level or the depth
• soniman 9y ago
  I've done this as an adult and what worked was Schaum's plus online videos. The idea that you will work through long textbooks is not realistic. Also an algebra cheat sheet esp the common algebra errors. Quick Calculus is also a good book. http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/cheat_table.aspx http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/cheat_table.aspx
• ecesena 9y ago
  Where do you live? In most Europe public university is free and you can attend courses. I don’t know about US or other parts of the world. If you just “show up one day”, you’ll be seen as pretty weird, but hey, it’s math, there will certainly be people more weird than you. My recommendation would be to introduce yourself to the teachers and be very careful/polite/diligent in attending the course. Some teachers can be very opinionated, just go with the flow. Given your initial level, I’d recommend to focus on breadth instead of depth. It’s likely the case that you don’t know enough yet to make an informed decision. For example, in my case I love algebraic geometry, number theory, and cryptography. And I hate calculus with a passion, including analytical number theory. None of this was clear to me until the 2nd-3rd year of university, foundamentally because what you learn in high school (liceo, in Italy) is kind ok fixed and biased towards calculus.
• sidcool 9y ago
  I asked a related question in another thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16582762 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16582762
• topologie 9y ago
  All you need is here: http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/books.html http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/books.html
• sassy_samurai 9y ago
  This might be what you're looking for: https://www.quantstart.com/articles/How-to-Learn-Advanced-Mathematics-Without-Heading-to-University-Part-1 https://www.quantstart.com/articles/How-to-Learn-Advanced-Ma...