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I'm looking to gain the math foundation needed do inch my way towards data science. Could anyone on HN recommend a good path to take? For simplicity's sake, ima

I'm looking to gain the math foundation needed do inch my way towards data science. Could anyone on HN recommend a good path to take? For simplicity's sake, imagine my math level is 0. Also, curious to know if anyone has good book suggestions or places with practice problems. Edit: This is the best list I've been able to find so far http://datasciencemasters.org/#math http://datasciencemasters.org/#math

hevelvarik 12y ago
I am self-teaching myself mathematics for a few years now and will suggest the following: Algebra and Trig, a subset of which is known as pre-calc. Don't short yourself on this because it is basic and you don't want to be struggling with it at the same you are struggling with the higher level stuff. I cannot recommend Sheldon Axler's Algebra and Trigonmetry highly enough. After much searching I found that and have been through it 3 times. Next Calculus: I recommend Gilbert Strang's text book which will take you through what in uni is called Caculus 3, 1 being intro, 2 being differential and 3 being integral. I in the midst of this book and so can't speak to further but my plan is to move onto Strang's linear Algebra. After that, where to go depends on particular interest but leaving any of that out, in my opinion, will just handicap your further studies. Moder education does a lot of things wrong but the standard math sequence in use everywhere isn't one of them imo.
- carlsednaoui 12y ago
  Thanks so much for the recommendations, hevelvarik. Just to confirm, are these the right books? - http://www.amazon.com/Algebra-Trigonometry-Sheldon-Axler/dp/047047081X http://www.amazon.com/Algebra-Trigonometry-Sheldon-Axler/dp/... - https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/BookDetail.aspx?bookId=10 https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/BookDetail.aspx?bookId=10 / http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/resources/Strang/Edited/Calculus/Calculus.pdf http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/resources/Strang/Edited/Calculus/...
  - hevelvarik 12y ago
    Sure :) They are.
  - Enzolangellotti 12y ago
    In addition, get Israel Gelfand's books (http://gcpm.rutgers.edu/books.html http://gcpm.rutgers.edu/books.html).
IndianAstronaut 12y ago
In addition to what others are saying I can't stress enough how important combinatorics are as well. Definitely spend some time trying to understand this area. From there move on to stochastic processes.
- carlsednaoui 12y ago
  Thanks for the note! This looks like a good place to start: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/probability/probability-and-combinatorics-topic https://www.khanacademy.org/math/probability/probability-and... Would you agree?
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - IndianAstronaut 12y ago
    Looks good. I used "Fundamentals of Probability with Stochastic Processes" by Ghahramani. Very good book.
impendia 12y ago
Epp's Discrete Mathematics with Applications is a nice book that covers much of the same material as this MIT class, but at a slower, easier pace. It's highly suitable to the beginner. You should know high school algebra and precalculus to be able to read the book. Trigonometry and calculus are not prerequisites, although you will probably want to learn those too.

hevelvarik 12y ago

I am self-teaching myself mathematics for a few years now and will suggest the following: Algebra and Trig, a subset of which is known as pre-calc. Don't short yourself on this because it is basic and you don't want to be struggling with it at the same you are struggling with the higher level stuff. I cannot recommend Sheldon Axler's Algebra and Trigonmetry highly enough. After much searching I found that and have been through it 3 times. Next Calculus: I recommend Gilbert Strang's text book which will take you through what in uni is called Caculus 3, 1 being intro, 2 being differential and 3 being integral. I in the midst of this book and so can't speak to further but my plan is to move onto Strang's linear Algebra. After that, where to go depends on particular interest but leaving any of that out, in my opinion, will just handicap your further studies. Moder education does a lot of things wrong but the standard math sequence in use everywhere isn't one of them imo.

carlsednaoui 12y ago
Thanks so much for the recommendations, hevelvarik. Just to confirm, are these the right books? - http://www.amazon.com/Algebra-Trigonometry-Sheldon-Axler/dp/047047081X http://www.amazon.com/Algebra-Trigonometry-Sheldon-Axler/dp/... - https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/BookDetail.aspx?bookId=10 https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/BookDetail.aspx?bookId=10 / http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/resources/Strang/Edited/Calculus/Calculus.pdf http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/resources/Strang/Edited/Calculus/...
- hevelvarik 12y ago
  Sure :) They are.
- Enzolangellotti 12y ago
  In addition, get Israel Gelfand's books (http://gcpm.rutgers.edu/books.html http://gcpm.rutgers.edu/books.html).

IndianAstronaut 12y ago

In addition to what others are saying I can't stress enough how important combinatorics are as well. Definitely spend some time trying to understand this area. From there move on to stochastic processes.

carlsednaoui 12y ago
Thanks for the note! This looks like a good place to start: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/probability/probability-and-combinatorics-topic https://www.khanacademy.org/math/probability/probability-and... Would you agree?
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- IndianAstronaut 12y ago
  Looks good. I used "Fundamentals of Probability with Stochastic Processes" by Ghahramani. Very good book.

impendia 12y ago

Epp's Discrete Mathematics with Applications is a nice book that covers much of the same material as this MIT class, but at a slower, easier pace. It's highly suitable to the beginner. You should know high school algebra and precalculus to be able to read the book. Trigonometry and calculus are not prerequisites, although you will probably want to learn those too.