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I wish I could get a handle on what I needed to learn in order to understand this stuff. I dug out my old undergraduate calculus textbook and started working t
by commandlinefan 8y ago
I wish I could get a handle on what I needed to learn in order to understand this stuff. I dug out my old undergraduate calculus textbook and started working through all the problems; I'm about halfway through now, but terms like "lattice", "zeta function" and "Laplace transforms" are still greek to me (sometimes literally).
- gtani 7y agoTo bootstrap your understanding in general, pursue calculus, linear algebra and probability in tandem, then go thru texts on real analysis and abstract algebra. Also math summary books: Courant/Robbins, Ian Stewart has a couple, Stillwell "Elements of"
- commandlinefan 7y agoThanks, much appreciated! I’m about half-way through my calculus textbook right now, and I’m actually learning quite a bit since I’m going over some of the sections my instructor skipped over (plus it’s been 30 years since I took the class, so I’m re-learning a thing or two that I had forgotten…). Any recommendations for real analysis and abstract algebra texts? I’m self-studying, so I’m looking for books that include lots of practice problems with answers (at least) in the back of the book so I can check to see if I’m on the right track.
- jhanschoo 7y agoI recommend heading over to reddit's r/math to ask for undergrad book recommendations! They're friendly, and the quality of discussion there is surprisingly high compared to other subreddits.