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Have you seen this thread? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=665029 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=665029

• tokenadult 17y ago
  That thread recommends many very few good books, but probably mostly books too hard at first for the participant who has posted this new thread. I'll recommend a couple of books from that thread: http://www.springer.com/physics/book/978-0-306-45036-5 http://www.springer.com/physics/book/978-0-306-45036-5 http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Short-Introduction-Timothy-Gowers/dp/0192853619/ http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Short-Introduction-Timothy... I agree with the recommendation of An Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning in this thread. Another participant has already recommended my favorite for background reading, Concepts of Modern Mathematics by Ian Stewart. http://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Modern-Mathematics-Ian-Stewart/dp/0486284247/ http://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Modern-Mathematics-Ian-Stewar... Get that right away. Sawyer's A Mathematician's Delight is surely also good (I've read other books by Sawyer). http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0486462404/ http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0486462404/ Read those for background as you get my favorite overviews of mathematics: Basic Mathematics by Serge Lang and Numbers and Geometry by Joseph Stillwell. http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Mathematics-Serge-Lang/dp/0387967877/ http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Mathematics-Serge-Lang/dp/038796... (Basic Mathematics is mostly high school level math, with a minimum of fuss and bother, and good exercises.) http://www.amazon.com/Numbers-Geometry-John-Stillwell/dp/0387982892/ http://www.amazon.com/Numbers-Geometry-John-Stillwell/dp/038... (Numbers and Geometry is mostly undergraduate level math, with very good explanations and excellent exercises.)