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iarwain1 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: iarwain1 18 February 2014 06:21:15PM *  0 points [-]

I'm doing precalculus now, and I've found ALEKS to be interesting and useful. For you in particular it might be useful because it tries to assess where you're up to and fill in the gaps.

I also like the Art of Problem Solving books. They're really thorough, and if you want to be very sure you have no gaps then they're definitely worth a look. Their Intermediate Algebra book, by the way, covers a lot of material normally reserved for Precalculus. The website has some assessments you can take to see what you're ready for or what's too low-level for you.

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