>tl;dr I would like you to suggest, if possible, the best textbooks to learn Math from the very beginning. I will initially be learning alone, without teachers, so keep that in mind. In the future, however, I pretend to start taking seminal classes too.
First of all, I apologize for my bad English.
I was always terrible at Math in school. Not only I was not endowed with a natural gift for the subject, but also (and this is the most important thing, I suspect; the “natural gift” is mostly overrated, I guess) I did not had the will to make any effort to learn it. Why? Mostly because I knew that my gift was more of a verbal one, and so I was always studying by myself (even during classes) subjects like versification, figures of speech, dialogue, and other technical aspects of writing.
I was also, from an early age, interested in the visual arts, in literature, philosophy and in history. When I needed to make my homework or prepare for math tests I initially tried to work on them, but inevitably toughs like this would start creeping in my brain, whispering inside my skull “Why are you going to lose your time with an area of knowledge where you will never be able to contribute with anything? What is the use of learning these small scraps of math when you will never be one of the significant names in the history of this science? Why don’t you keep working on your new play, or why don’t you work on that children’s book you were writing last month - it will be nice to make some drawing-drafts in preparation for the illustrations that will accompany the text”. Invaded by these realizations I would put the math books aside and resume my personal literary and artistic projects. During classes I was never paying attention, but reading books that I have brought from home or drawing.
However I realize now that, even though I will never do anything valuable in any field of science, still I find physics, chemistry and biology extremely interesting, and I would love to develop a more profound knowledge of these areas. The problem is: without knowledge of math, I know that my study of physics will be fruitless (I will only learn the verbal part of it, the things you can find in popular-science books). With that in mind, I decided to start learning mathematics again, first by myself.
I will be honest with you guys: I am afraid even of starting to learn math. I reminds me of bad moments in my life (terrible grades, treats from my parents, low self-esteem, etc.) and it is a very evident and palpable reminder of my own limitations and incapacities. I fear, for example, that no matter how much I try, I will simply be unable to slowly evolve. I admire mathematicians greatly, and I guess that much of this admiration comes from the fact that I cannot even imagine how they do what they do. I read about Gauss or Euler and I can’t imagine how the minds of people like them work; how do they create. I can understand Beethoven, Michelangelo and Shakespeare (not saying I can do what they do, obviously, but I can see how they start, how they mature, how they slowly build their projects), but the creativity of Newton and Einstein (and above all pure mathematicians) is a blank to me.
But enough of my babblings. I would like you to suggest, if possible, the best textbooks to learn Math from the very beginning. I will initially be learning alone, without teachers, so keep that in mind. In the future, however, I pretend to start taking seminal classes too.
Aaron Hill
Basic Mathematics by Strang Calculus by Spivak Linear Algebra done Right by Strang Advanced Calculus by Loomis and Sternberg Principles of Real Analysis by Rudin Algebra by Artin
do all the problems
there now you are ready to start your pure maths master program in a specific area of study
Lucas Anderson
thank you very much
Eli Martin
What do you study today?
Joshua Wilson
cute gif
Nathaniel Stewart
>Linear Algebra done Right by Strang Strang has a Linear Algebra book, but LADR is by Axler
Jayden Brooks
If you left off from high school and understand some basic functions and how to graph with xy, I would suggest doing calculus 1-2, linear algebra and then differential equations. Higher from that point on it depends on what field you're interested in. If you can't do functions you need to figure some of the basic stuff out before calc 1.
OP here. I greatly admire people like you; I would love to possess your state of mind for a few days, to see how it works.
I myself am a playwright and poet; I have a great love for metaphors and imagery-filled language. In my mind words are not fixed entities, but have soft and viscous membranes, that let information enter and leave (like cellular walls): their meaning is always overflowing, from one of them to others, as if they were cells in a beehive that couldn’t sustain their honey inside. They are not rocky moons, but nebulous and foggy worlds, like Jupiter: they might seem solid in a first glimpse, but when you look close, they are fuming with a whole swarm of meanings.
What I am trying to say is that words (and not only words, but also ideas and philosophies), in my brain, are always tinkling with connotations. If I think in the word “mother”, I immediately remember other words like warmth, tenderness, care, homeland, family, breast, milk, breastfeeding, protection, etc., and this is only a small example.
I cannot see abstract and concrete language as separate: there are always fusing, always copulating.
I wonder what the mind of a mathematician looks like when he is working.
Bentley Ward
In all honesty, I cannot even say how I was able to complete school. As for my mathematical knowledge, I have problems even with the simple basic four operations. I forgot most of what I learned to pass the final exams (I generally had lower than average grades, and needed to do especial exams that were like the last chance for bad students to obtain the necessary points to pass).
Xavier Thompson
>Basic Mathematics Isn't it by Serge Lang?
Jack Taylor
Will I be able to finish the book in about 7 weeks?
Aiden Peterson
7 weeks is enough, you could even be crazy and finish it in half the time but that'd be a bad idea in the long run unless you have brilliant retention.
Angel Phillips
>Algebra by Artin End this meme, I remember being recommended this shitty book. It's only for mathematics students imo.
Jason Anderson
My suggestion won't take you very far. But I found it very interesting. The mathematician Heron of Alexandria was outstanding in the field of mathematics. You should check him out
Austin Nelson
why?
Gavin Foster
>you're recommending a math book to someone who wants to learn math? end this meme kill yourself
John Foster
This one might help too
Tyler Russell
bump: I would like to know more about what math anons can recomend
