Anyone read books on math? I need recommendations.
>>7730263
sci
>>7730263
Philibert Schogt's The Wild Numbers
Engineering Mathematics - Stroud
>>7730263
Do you want a textbook? A history of math? A pop fueled romp through the dicipline? Or perhaps a novel that features math?
Principia Mathematica
Spivak, "Calculus". Hofstadter, "Godel Escher Bach". Penrose, "The Road to Reality".
>>7730304
Any that favor plain English and pictures over jargon and formulas
>>7730296
Not this one; see DFW "rhetoric and the math melodrama"
>>7730263
What're you looking for OP? Straight-up math textbooks, pop math books, quality non-fiction about math, or novels featuring math? Narrow it down for me.
>>7730518
Any that favor plain English and pictures over jargon and formulas while not over simplifying. Bonus points to ones that cover queer patterns.
Also, what's a pop math book?
>>7730300
>engineering
>math
>>7730542
I mean, what's a sensible recommendation is going to very depending on how much math you know.
You can probably get something useful out of Godel, Escher, Bach with no real background at all. If you want to learn anything serious though then you'll have to accept 'jargon and formulas'. Leaving them out IS over simplifying.
That said, the recent book "How Not to be Wrong" by Jordan Ellenberg manages to communicate some non-trivial everyday uses of mathematics without being either highly technical or condescending. Maybe give that a go?
A 'pop math' book means a book for the educated layman that tries to explain some aspect of math (usually the history of a big theorem or whatever) without actually giving the details. This might actually be what you're after. See, e.g., Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh, or anything by Ian Stewart.
>>7730574
Thank you for the information I'll be looking to all of those. Currently in AP Calculus if that helps.
A better example of what I mean by to much jargon and formulas is books/works like the Synopsis of Pure Mathematics
Professor Stewart's cabinet of mathematical curiosities
>>7730346
(you)
>>7730612
>Currently in AP Calculus
Holy shit, fuck off.
>>7730612
>AP Calculus
Read GEB. Try not to turn into a faggot STEMlord who posts on lesswrong or something. Also maybe check out Prime Obsession by John Derbyshire (of racism fame), which is pitched at an AP calculus level.
>>7730765
its too late. ap calculus so hes most likely in engineering or cs or some shit already so yknow
>>7730812
hey, I have a phd in math and I managed not to grow up an autist. had to read a lot of fiction though.
>>7730812
I should clarify. I'm in Highschool AP Calc.
>>7730827
>Highschool
Holy shit please just fuck off
>>7730514
from thehowlingfantods.com
>"Rhetoric and the Math Melodrama: Philibert Schogt's 'The Wild Numbers' & Apostolos Doxiadis' 'Uncle Petros & Goldbach's Conjecture'". Science, December 22, 2000. [NOTES: This was fairly heavily edited by Science but the original manuscript (along with an interesting reader response and DFW's response to that response) is available here. The published (abridged) version is here.]
know where I can catch the full thing?
>>7732611
I read the whole thing online a few years ago. Since then it has been collected in the posthumous volume "Both Flesh and Not".
>>7732611
Try
tinyurl com/ jmzh4do
Read Categories for the Working Mathematician, Opie
>>7733215
Read Conceptual Mathematics by Lawvere and Schanuel first.
>>7730263
i bought a book on the history of mathematics 5 years ago. i've never read it, it's probably shit anyways.
>>7730765
>lesswrong
>what is this?
>google it
Oh my Jesus, my ears are bleeding from such a extreme physical cringe.
>>7730263
I liked the first 100-150 pages of that math book DFW wrote, it was pretty good/interesting.
Do you mean math history or actual mathematics, though?
Uncle petros and goldbach's conjecture
Four colors suffiice
Euler's gem
Euclid in the rainforest
How not to be wrong
The drunkards walk
The unfinished game
Zero: the biography of a dangerous idea
>>7730263
Alice in Wonderland
>>7730612
>Currently in AP Calculus
You might be interested in A Tour of the Calculus by David Berlinski. Some of the discussion of things like limits and infinitessimals might be review for you, but it's likely presented in a different way. The writing is much more 'literary' than most scientific writing and really shows a deep appreciation and even love for the subject.
>>7733577
I got really sucked in a while back. I hate them with all of my heart. Their leader wrote the godawful Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality fanfic. Also, the guy who writes slate star codex is one of them.
>>7733583
He really tried with that book, but if you know any real math you can see that it's riddled with errors. It made me pretty upset, because I admire DFW's non-fiction writing on other subjects, but now I wonder if he's lousy at those subjects as well, and I just can't tell because I'm not a specialist. Is DFW just a smart dilettante?
Oh well, at least we can all agree that his fiction rules.
>>7734151
I know like Calc 2 level math, but I wouldn't have noticed any errors (aside from that one extreme value theorem thing) if I hadn't found a website dedicated to the errata in that book. Damn. But aside from all those problems, it was a decent pop math book imo.
>Is DFW just a smart dilettante?
Probably kek. I thoroughly enjoy his nonfiction regardless, though.
>>7734236
Yeah, the errors aren't hugely noticeable blunders. Just lots of little things wrong that sort of hint to the trained reader that the writer doesn't really understand what he's talking about. That's what made it so sad desu.
If you like DFW and have Calc 2 level math, I highly recommend "How Not To Be Wrong", mentioned several times already above. The author is a major DFW fanboy, was a certified child prodigy in math, but took time out write a novel so he could be more like DFW.
ps totally not kidding about him wanting to be like DFW: tinyurl com q3wyaqk
>>7734262
does /lit/ autocorrect 't b h' to desu?
desu
>>7734269
it fucking does!
>>7734262
By Jordan Ellenberg? I'll check it out, thanks anon!
ignore everyone itt, pop books are worthless
>>7734292
yeah, that's it
t b h
>>7734368
put them together
>>7734453
desu
>>7734459
circa last Halloween anon
>>7733849
This is a decent book, and seems close to what OP wants (but forces in algebra though OP wrongly wishes to avoid this). I referred to it recently while in an argument with people on /sci/ over math history.
t. an actual math grad
>>7730332
M e e m s
>>7735309
So people really aren't massive or ironic weebs, it's just 4cheng. I'm not sure what to believe any more.
i am very bad at math and always have been, and feel like i'm way below average. this makes me feel as if i'm missing out (which i'm sure i am) to understand some things somewhat more deeply. besides that, it just feels plain bad to be quite illiterate in math. strangely enough i've never had any problems with physics and such (not on an advanced level, but still)
>>7736929
senpai baka desu yo
All these are good math books. A Course in Combinatorics is a fun book. Diestel's book is my favourite on graph theory. Also Projective Geometry by Coxeter is good. You should have a good handle on most undergrad math topics before you attempt graduate level books. Ireland and Rosen's number theory book assumes an understanding of pretty much all abstract algebra topics like Rings, Fields, and Groups as well as all topics covered in an undergraduate number theory course, but it has great problem sets that really help you learn the math
hello friends
i wish to improve at math
what books will make me a math whiz
>>7730612
>To much jargon
>to much
>>7736986
> 3 books on graph theory
> none of them by Bollobás
i am sad anon
>>7736997
that depends on how much math you know
R U D I N
U
D
I
N
>TOPOS THEORY
the book by maclane deals only with finitary geometric logic.
the application of the full geometric logic is found in the book by steven vickers topology via logic. there is also the fundamental work michael_makkai_&_gonzalo_reyes_-_first_order_categorical_logic_model-theoretical_methods_in_the_theory_of_topoi_and_related_categories_[springer_1977_9783540084396]
plus of course
https://ncatlab.org/nlab/show/category+theory#TextBooks
there is also a good historical exposition
-Andrei Rodin
(Submitted on 25 Sep 2012)
Lawvere's axiomatization of topos theory and Voevodsky's axiomatization of heigher homotopy theory exemplify a new way of axiomatic theory building, which goes beyond the classical Hibert-style Axiomatic Method. The new notion of Axiomatic Method that emerges in Categorical logic opens new possibilities for using this method in physics and other natural sciences.
http://arxiv.org/abs/1210.1478
and two books
-From a Geometrical Point of View
A Study of the History and Philosophy of Category Theory
Authors: Marquis, Jean-Pierre
http://www.springer.com/us/book/9781402093838
-ralf_kromer_-tool_and_object_a_history_and_philosophy_of_category_theory_[springer_2007_9783764375232]
A=B
