Georgia Tech's free math textbook collective

As a "budget" engineering/science school, I feel like it's part of the ethos.

[1] https://github.com/androm3da/math-textbooks

[1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/0992001005/noBSguide preview: https://minireference.com/static/excerpts/noBSguide_v5_previ...

"Mathematics for the Nonmathematician" https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Nonmathematician-Morris-K...

or

"Mathematics for the Million" https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Million-Master-Magic-Numb...

Of the two I prefered Kline's book but they are both good, albeit a bit heavy on geometery as that was a big focus of early math research.

Another great starting point is "Book of Proofs" and "Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning" to give you a deeper sense of how to approach the subject.

https://www.amazon.com/Book-Proof-Richard-Hammack/dp/0989472...

https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Mathematical-Reasoning-N...

From there I went down this path (the order of which is up to you, each has tons of good source material):

-> Proofs/Logic

-> Algebra

-> Linear Algebra

-> Calculus

-> Abstract Algebra

-> Set Theory

-> Group Theory

-> Category Theory

-> Statistics/Probability

-> Discrete Mathematics

I never did well with learning math in a classroom but I've grown to love math through this process. There are lots of applications in programming as well. It makes approaching the deeper parts of Haskell/FP, data science, and machine learning much more accessible. I particularly liked the higher level Abstract Algebra stuff over the more grinding equations of calculus/linear algebra as it was more similar to programming.

MOOCs and books provide the materials but not the motivation or the opportunities for synthesis through verbalization and interaction.

For what it's worth, I'm basically in the midst of a sabbatical in order to study math.

Fast forward 15 years and I've forgotten so much that I look at old notebooks and can't understand a fucking thing I wrote back then.

It depresses me to no end.

And I kind of despair that with the obligations I'm locked into right now, it will be nearly impossible to dedicate the time I would need to relearn it all.

After a few fits and starts at re-learning I've found the only things that stick are things that I end-up using (albeit sometimes in a forced way). Nothing wrong with a nostalgic perusal of classic well-written texts, but these kinds of things were never intended for just reading. You gotta apply it to really know it.

I'd love a group

I guess you're an engineer in academia, but it might help to specify, since that affects what suggestions are relevant.

I am a free text author (one of mine is an entry on OP's page). If you want change, here is something you can do.

When you are contacted by the alum reps at your school, GaTech or otherwise, don't ask about the football team. Ask if the faculty are rewarded for writing books that are Free.

People respond to rewards. Said less abstractly, I have been told a lot, often by young folks starting out, that they have a good idea but cannot afford to spend the time on a project that would not be recognized at their institution when they come up for tenure or promotion.

(My institution had the foresight to recognized this kind of work, for which I can only say how great that was of them.)

For the most part, professors have to use books that the university bookstore can obtain. Since the publishers were always bumping up the edition, that meant using the new edition. When (and where) I was going to school, most professors would turn a blind eye to students using an old edition. Many would even go as far as supporting students with the old edition. A few would recommend entirely different books if they felt that they were better. I even had one professor who paid students for finding errors in a book that he wrote, even if he knew that the student was using a photocopy of his book.

Very few professors are opportunists and most would prefer an open culture. They are simply stuck with the rules of a system that preys upon students.

check out this series (he also has a really good one on linear algebra)

After that, I'd check out Khan academy.

I wrote about some of my take-home messages from that book here: https://www.quora.com/profile/David-Lawrence-6 "How I study hard"

Abhishek Pillai wrote about what he learnt here: https://medium.com/learn-love-code/learnings-from-learning-h...

I have completed 3 MOOC courses. I was lucky that they tied in with my job.

Hey IEEE, you are doing the opposite of a service in a world created by your members. Please cease to exist.

This feeling that you are not armed for the subject is because there is a lot of dependent information between what you know and subjects like category theory and abstract algebra. Since you just got outta high school, you still have a lot to learn between where you are and where you want to be. Do not let that dissuade you tho, you can learn it, just gotta start.

Both MIT[1] and Stanford[2] have category theory as a graduate level course. I was not a math major but I assume that means you're like 4+ years away from learning this on the college track. Now, do not take that as a personal endorsement for going to college, you do you.

But, you are on hacker news, so I assume you want to learn, Well here is the MIT undergrad pure math major class requirements[3]. Its a good place to start learning an undergrad amount of math, the internet has resources everywhere to learn this stuff, it just takes time. Lots and lots of time.

One more tip, there is a trade-off between how hard something is to learn and how quickly you can learn it [4]. Do not over exert yourself too far in the difficult to learn direction, because you will become frustrated. Try and find a spot that is still fun, but not too fun, because then you are not maximizing your learning potential, assuming that is your goal. Learning how to learn can be very helpful, maximize your gains.

Also shout out to Numberphile on Youtube [5]. If you like math, you will like the channel.

[1] https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-s996-category-the... [2] http://math.stanford.edu/~vakil/10-210A/ [3] https://math.mit.edu/academics/undergrad/major/course18/pure... [4] http://fancyfishgames.com/img/difficulty_curve.png [5] https://www.youtube.com/user/numberphile

My favorite book, that I strongly recommend despite the high price of around $100 in the US is "Mathematical Proofs" by Chartrand. You can get an international copy off eBay for around $45.

If you're weak on basic algebra etc, then you should instead start with "engineering mathematics" by Stroud, which has a foundations section that I started with several years ago when I started relearning math. It's designed for self-study.

I actually did find it helpful to do classes, I found most of the lower division math classes available online (i.e. calculus 1,2,3 and linear algebra). Sometimes, it helps to have deadlines, exams etc :)

Btw, if anyone out there already has a non math degree, but wants to study upper division and graduate level math formally, it turns out the way that is usually done on the US is to apply to a Math Masters program for "conditional admission" to the masters programs. They admit you, and then you do the upper division undergrad courses first, then move onto the masters programs. It's also possible to sign up for one-off classes at various universities via some kind of "open university" program, which is much easier to get into than formal admission to a degree course- I'm actually starting an Analysis course and a Linear algebra course at Berkeley tomorrow, as part of their "summer session", and you basically just sign up, pay your money, and turn up :)

Feel free to get in touch if anyone has any questions (email in profile)

http://abstract.ups.edu/download/aata-20160809.pdf try that for size.

Another good resource, except for the latter parts only being obviously useful for physics: http://www.staff.science.uu.nl/~gadda001/goodtheorist/primar...

Personally, I only started to enjoy math when I started hanging out with PhD students (in engineering as I was an engineer). They showed me what you can do with upper level math and that motivated me to learn it. I discovered that most math isn't like high school at all and is way cooler than I imagined.

I note that slthough it mentions textbooks, it says this:

"They have not been published elsewhere, and, as works in progress, are subject to significant revision."

So I understand the model behind these materials this to be that in the end the goal is to publish with a publisher, not to offer the material for Free download, and that these works are being developed, and welcoming feedback during that process.

I don't believe OP's page has that model. I think OP's page is works that the author considers finished.

(And Georgia the US state has a larger population than Georgia the country. So perhaps this is one of the rare times when our parochialism about the rest of the world is justified.)

The "look inside" feature of Amazon is sometimes very limited. Sometimes I've taken a look at PDF or DjVu versions of books, not with the intention of reading them but just looking at them before buying them.

Books approach subjects in varying levels of detail. Sometimes you are interested in deep theory and proofs, sometimes you just want workable formulas.