> involved with virtually no scientific or mathematical content You can't say that about this list, on the account of "What is Mathematics" alone. That's the

> involved with virtually no scientific or mathematical content You can't say that about this list, on the account of "What is Mathematics" alone. That's the book that really got me into math (ended up with a PhD in it), and it covers a very wide range of topics from number theory to geometry and topology (and has the best exposition of Calculus I've ever seen). Also, a lot of branches of math do not require a very long preparation to get into. To get deeply into - yes. So, perhaps you should narrow your statement to specific books.