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Nisan comments on Open Thread for February 11 - 17 - Less Wrong Discussion

3 Post author: Coscott 11 February 2014 06:08PM

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Comment author: cursed 11 February 2014 08:33:42PM *  4 points [-]

I'm interested in learning pure math, starting from precalculus. Can anyone give advise on what textbooks I should use? Here's my current list (a lot of these textbooks were taken from the MIRI and LW's best textbook list):

  • Calculus for Science and Engineering
  • Calculus - Spivak
  • Linear Algebra and its Applications - Strang
  • Linear Algebra Done Right
  • Div, Grad, Curl and All That (Vector calc)
  • Fundamentals of Number Theory - LeVeque
  • Basic Set Theory
  • Discrete Mathematics and its Applications
  • Introduction to Mathematical Logic
  • Abstract Algebra - Dummit

I'm well versed in simple calculus, going back to precalc to fill gaps I may have in my knowledge. I feel like I'm missing some major gaps in knowledge jumping from the undergrad to graduate level. Do any math PhDs have any advice?

Thanks!

Comment author: Nisan 11 February 2014 09:19:56PM 1 point [-]

Maybe the most important thing to learn is how to prove things. Spivak's Calculus might be a good place to start learning proofs; I like that book a lot.