MATH

Dear Veeky Forums, growing up I've always been bad at math and never really paid attention during classes, but now at the age of 23 I realize how amazing it really is. I've forgotten most of what I've learned during high school and would not just like to relearn that, but also progress to the level of a Math major. I know if I put my mind to it I can do it, I just need to be directed to some useful resources. ANY SUGGESTIONS at all would be appreciated. Thank you.

Other urls found in this thread:

Veeky
toomandre.com/travel/Port2010/PORTUGAL.pdf
khanacademy.org/
purplemath.com/
twitter.com/SFWRedditGifs

Veeky Forums-science.wikia.com/wiki/Math_Textbook_Recommendations

Look into your local college, sign up for classes, and this

a huge booklist is shit advice

first learn the basics well, KhanAcademy is good for that. review well and start with calculus 1 from ocw.mit.edu along with something like Stewart's Calculus, which is pretty light. once you're at that point, ask again for advice

Thanks for this list, finding the PDFs for some of these is turning out to be a little tricky though.

I'll be going to university next year and applying to major in mathematics, BUT I really need to play catch up before then.

Thanks so much for this, will definitely started grinding away on KhanAcademy immediately.

if you're 23 and still suck at math just give up, it's clearly not for you

Serge Lang - Basic Mathematics.

Avoid KhanAcademy and any other online "courses" unless you want to develop a slapdash understanding of Math and be a Veeky Forums autodidact (tm). You don't want to internalise a myriad of algorithms without ever understanding why they work the way they do. Master how to compute using pen-and-paper approach first. Focus heavily on word problems, first on one-step problems, then multi-step problems, because it forces you to engage in semantics therefore deepening your understanding.

Lastly, get off Veeky Forums.

Thank you for this, do you think it would be alright for me to read Basic Mathematics by Lang and THEN go and plow through Khan Academy or is most of the content covered in the book?

the "slapdash" understanding you speak of seems to have worked for the majority of the worlds mathematicians

I'm pretty much on the same boat as OP although younger. I'm using Khan Academy, what should I be learning from instead?

yeah, let's all stick to the traditional way and never accept newer and improved methods of studying

age is seriously irrelevant when it comes to mathematics, it's not like an art that requires talent or anything. people far older than you and OP have gotten very far. do khanacademy and come back with questions when you're finished.

> never accept newer and improved methods of studying
you mean like using online courses?

I was exactly in the same situation OP. I just bought what was regarded as the best workbook for HS and did all of the exercises in it. About 1800-1900 exercises (counting multiple subexercises as one, so no funny business with numbers) in a year.
It was the first time in my life I worked so hard on anything. It drove me literally crazy (I sounded like a freak when I talked), but was one of the best things I did in my life. I still have piles of those notebooks as a reminder.

what was the workbook you used??

It was a polish workbook (in two volumes actually) so I suppose it won't be of any help for you.

You just have to do a little research to pick the best one. Ask maybe some active math teachers wherever you live, ask on the internet etc.
You don't want to spend the next year on something you picked up half assed

This user.
Use khan only when you're stuck on something. You should be spending time doing exercises not wasting it watching lectures.

im 28 and just started getting serious as well. i got through calc I before with a C-

now ive been following wildberger, foundations, and now wildtrig since geometry came up. its way interesting now

Yes, but you need a solid foundation first, which is traditionally HS mathematics.

So I'm not anything amazing with math, but I did my BS in statistics and my BA in Economics, and a masters in Data analytics all which required a decent amount of math.

Coming from someone who was in a similar situation (absolutely horrible at math, literally had to take college algebra 3 times before saying fuck it and taking a statistics course instead) I really hated math until I sort of started looking at it with a different "perspective" I guess. I instead looked at the whole picture, and really tried to understand WHY certain things are they way they are, versus just knowing a fact.

At least for me, that type of attitude and discipline really helped me a lot with more advanced math I had to take, and just in general.

tldr; Don't just do math as a fact, really try to understand the theory behind everything.

Counterexample:

Since I've had use of reason I've always been extremely curious and would not relent until I understood the why of how something worked. In math I always made sure I didn't just memorize, but understood the way in which things were related. While I breezed through highschool, my insistence on dedicating my energies to understanding everything instead of memorizing and practicing with what I'd memorized possibly cost me a semester of university.

I think the key is to achieve a good balance of rote and understanding and just a basic sense of time management.

There are loads of exercises on Kahn in between lectures. If you want that is, just keep doing the exercises until you're comfy and move on to the next lecture.

With Lang, you're in good hands. Lang covers pretty much everything you need to know to advance to Calculus. In fact, if you read and do all the exercises in Lang, you're prepared for his "A First Course in Calculus", which too has a sequel: "Undergraduate Analysis". But you can substitute his Undergraduate Analysis with Spivak, Apostol, or Courant, if you wish.

Online lectures like Khan are bad because to physically experience, say, a beautiful scenery that's located at some point B in its full 3D glory, you have to travel to that point first. Analogously, to understand the insights of mathematics, say modelling and solving a word problem, you have to *mentally* traverse through some set of fundamental principles and arrive at the solution by brute, raw, thinking; watching a Khan lecture and "sort of" getting it, by mere imitation and copying, you're just kidding yourself. Focus on problem solving because it forces you to engage in semantics and not just routine 'plug-and-chug'. The analogy above is shitty and totally impromptu, but just go with it.

>

This might be true. Plus with Internet connection you might get distracted. Beter plug off the internet and download ebooks or buy the real books.

Also, read this if you can: toomandre.com/travel/Port2010/PORTUGAL.pdf

Lang seems pretty good, I can do the exercises although I'm having trouble with the proofs. Do you have any advice on how to do them? I was never asked to do proofs in school so I don't really understand a good approach to them.

Careful with math foundations, his anti uncountable set quakery is in there.

His algebra topology class is great banter though.

You just have to read and attempt to write a lot of proofs. Try recreating arguments from textbook proofs.

Not op, but the file name is misleading, making me almost not want to click it

You should definitely read it if you've time

Is it something I will be expected to do in Calculus classes? I'm concerned with my lack of experience of doing proofs.

no, not in calculus, not initially. calculus from a book like Stewart will be very light, computations-based.

if you like math though, you'll later read through something like apostol / spivak and start getting used to proofs. it's a long, slow way forward.

Dude enough of this. It is a race to the frontier. If you stop to reinvent the wheel every time you shuffle a symbol without "understanding" it, you'll never get anywhere.

Reading Lang is not going to prevent OP from getting to places, it'll help him get there faster. You don't have to sit down and put a magnifying glass over every single concept, just get a core understanding and everything else will become easier.

I am not as concerned about the book recommendation as the rest of the post. As is typical of a naturally talented in mathematics sperg lord, it is poorly articulated. If you don't already know exactly what he is talking about then there is no way he is going to be able to explain it to you. See the state of mathematics education if you need more convincing.

I'm looking at brushing up on my maths as well. I'm going through some high school math on YouTube before a join a class somewhere.

Learn at least the basics of trigonometry, Quadratic equations, Algebra, Functions, Calculus, Linear Algebra, Statistics, Probability, Vectors, Permutations & Combinations.

Most importantly, rather than just applying formulas and learning to manipulate equations and symbols, learn how to visualize problems and solve them.

Professor Leonard has thousands of quality videos on YouTube and he's a great teacher.

Hey OP... I was in a similar situation as you. I was always terrified of math as a kid to be honest. Fast forward a couple years, I got out of the army at age 26 and decide to study physics after reading a Stephen Hawking book. Went to a bookstore and checked out a bunch of pre-algebra/algebra books. Fast forward a couple years and I now have a degree in physics and am looking at grad school soon.

Bottom line, make a commitment and stick with it. Math is like learning a language.

Not OP, but that's fuckin badass dude. Serious props.

What was so "poorly articulated" in my post?

I can't help but see it as straight-forward as it gives explicit instructions or at least hints, just on what one should focus on in math education.

>If you stop to reinvent the wheel every time you shuffle a symbol without "understanding" it, you'll never get anywhere.
I wasn't advocating such an extreme.

nice

Inspiring stuff

khanacademy.org/
purplemath.com/

The local library.

Khan Academy has tons of exercises.

I fucking hate khan academy, get a damned textbook

khan academy assumes you have a learning development with the pace they teach at

you say you want to get to the level of a math major, it depends what you want to do with the knowledge though? if you're learning for the fun of it, by all means do so. but if you're learning with the intent to get in to a career with this just give up. you're up against kids who have been tutored since they were 13, that's 10+ years of problem solving skills they've developed with the advantage of the neuroplasticity.

>neuroplasticity meme

Fuck off.

Don't listen to this guy OP, it will all depend on your motivation. You were bad at math because you didn't pay attention in class. Pay attention and you'll be good.

i don't think it's all to do with motivation, theirs some people who are motivated and who put in the hours but don't get anywhere.

The people who put in hours and don't get anywhere are most likely the ones who aren't really motivated (i.e. they have a fear of math) but force themselves to do it anyway. There needs to be both the desire and the time put in.

>they have a fear of math

What does that even mean though? The only fear they have is looking like a complete idiot because any math you have to do in high school requires minimal logical thinking.

If they've grown up not paying attention and have a lingering thought in the back of their minds telling them that they're horrible at math it might make even easy to understand concepts more daunting then they really are. In a nutshell, if you constantly think you're going to fail at something, you probably will.

implying that everyone who has desire to do math and puts in the time can succeed, that's clearly not true. some people are wasting their time.

You can always try the problems before watching the explanation.

Has anyone here read Serge Lang - Basic Mathematics? If so can you vouch for it?

why don't you skim through it and see for yourself

I'm in a similar situation to OP, so looking through this thread I'm getting mixed opinions about Khanacademy, is there an alternative online resource out there?

Khanacademy is good

people who criticize it just have aversion to new things (online courses)

If you're too stupid to realize that there's a sticky full of resources that can help you out, you're probably also too stupid to do math.

geniusintelligence.com The pdf contains an exercise which helps strengthen mathematical ability bar-none. It's called, in the program, "Draw Visual Harness." It's, for sure, a worthy investment.

Is there a way to find this PDF without having to fork over the dough? Also you say this exercise strengthens mathematical ability bar-none, but what have you compared it to?

libgen

There's nothing else I've found to compare it to, mate.

It's a very worthwhile investment

??? what the fuck is this shit, get your ads out of here

the sticky is shit. don't recommend something if you don't know anything about the topic.

Dude, believe me, it's worth it.

since when did people start shilling on Veeky Forums?

yeah pirate that shit

i mean if they have to resort to shilling here their product probably isn't that good

Lol the comment got deleted. Knew it was bullshit.

was in the same situation op, tried khan but it was painfully boring those fucking videos, so i just grabbed a precalculus txtbook and whenever im stuck i look it up and get back to the book

reading over watching videos for any method of learning is so much more efficient. people are wasting their time with video learning

Fuck off cunt, I started my math major at 24 having left high school at 15.
It'll be harder for you than it will be for your classmates, and expect to put more time in than them, but you have the advantage of maturity. Don't listen to KhanAcademy is great for playing catch-up. You probably won't need it once you actually start uni.

Good luck OP.