Math Books for CS Undergrads | Hacker News Reader

Math Books for CS Undergrads

11 pointssebkom5 comments

Ok, basically the situation is like this: I am one of the millions of students that hated mathematics to death while in high school but want to study computer science. As a result of this passionate hate I now find myself in university and although I can deal with the math of the course I really want to get a better understanding of most of the concepts and ideas in discrete mathematics, linear agebra, number theory, etc. However, it sounds ineffective that I just pick a subject, go to wikipedia, read about that, pick another subject, do the same, and so on. So, what I am asking is suggestions for books covering the concepts that a person who wants to understand maths better needs to be ok with.

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Of the math textbooks I've used, two've been good enough to keep so far:

Linear Algebra: http://www.amazon.ca/Linear-Algebra-Applications-CD-ROM-Upda...

Calculus: http://www.amazon.ca/Calculus-Early-Transcendentals-Tools-En...

on the more computer-sciency side, Introduction to Algorithms has a lot of good word-of-mouth. I'm not such a fan, myself, but here it is: http://www.amazon.ca/Introduction-Algorithms-Thomas-H-Cormen...

It depends what level you are already on. At some point, you might like to read Concrete Mathematics: A Foundation for Computer Science

http://www.amazon.com/Concrete-Mathematics-Foundation-Comput...

which is an enjoyable book, but which presupposes a fairly strong background in math.

An easier book that is good preparation for computer science is Mathematics: A Discrete Introduction,

http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Discrete-Introduction-Edwa...

which is very readable and full of information that will get you ready for computer science concepts and for other math reading.

After edit:

Browse the books on this bibliography page

http://olympiads.win.tue.nl/imo/books.html

for lots of suggestions compiled by someone deeply interested in computer science.

The width of the question makes it a tough one. I am lucky enough to have a mathematics professor one phone call away. You will find spending hours in your University's library rewarding. Start with a good book on discrete mathematics and move on from there. A good book is the one for which you can have someone explain your questions (meaning the one that your professor proposes).

Just read this:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=560045

Thanks for the recommendations, trully appreciated!

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