The right sort of textbook is just as good as a good lecture. In math, books like Rudin's Principles of Analysis are extremely thorough, rigorous, and a great

The right sort of textbook is just as good as a good lecture. In math, books like Rudin's Principles of Analysis are extremely thorough, rigorous, and a great source of problems, but not a good book to start learning from. On the other hand, Abbott's Analysis is a less detailed book but a much better introduction. Any textbook that takes itself too seriously is probably not going to be as good as a lecture.