Fun Math Books
Mathematics is about numbers, trigonometry, and calculus, right? If you think so, then you have little idea of what is mathematics.
On this page i present some of the math books i've read that i highly recommend to ANYONE. No, you did not remember your highschool algebra or trigonometry, i know. Even if you do, you can forget them. What you need here is a curious mind. What you will learn is in fact the most advanced modern mathematics, in sharp contrast to the formulaic drivel taught in high school or college that so troubled our young and bored our minds. After reading one or two books here, you'll come out with a fresh idea how mathematics was never what you thought it is about. Trust me.
In this New Age age there's lots of math popularizing books or highschool math education programs that have highschool students participate in puzzles-solving and block-arranging in the names of teaching mathematics. More often than not, the stately goal of teaching mathematics through painless games mutates into meaningless team-spirit-building social activity. Although math is not about formula roting, but nor is it game playing. Watch out for these dumbed down numb books and programs. The utmost importance in math education is to have teachers who are genuinely interested in math. Approaches, methodologies, and gimmicks matter less. Far less.
What you will learn from the books on this page are solid mathematics.
The 4th Dimension
FLATLAND: A Romance of Many Dimensions
Best Intro to Graph Theory
Calculus
What Is Calculus About Buy at amazon (1978) by W W Sawyer
Oh Calculus — the headache of your youth! This is an excellent explanatory book i read in the early 1990s when i was learning calculus. Calculus is the stepping stone to a branch of real mathematics called Analysis. In essence, analysis is the study of the concept of continuity and infinitesimals.
2021-05-09 note, today, this book is probably not worth buying. There are tons of video or Wikipedia that gives you introduction to calculus well.
group Theory (on Symmetry)
Both group theory and graph theory are pure mathematics, in the sense that they possess the most elegance and beauty. Unlike some topics in pure math; group theory and graph theory are also very much applied mathematics, most predominant in computer engineering and operations research. Group theory is also fundamental to crystallography and the concept of groups is a foundation to much mathematics. Group theory and graph theory are distinct topics of what we may call discrete mathematics.
Knots
Knot Book , by Colin C Adams. Buy at amazon
Knot? Yes, one of the most modern branch of mathematics is the study of knots. Trefoil knots, figure-eight knots, you name it. These studies have far-reaching consequences from chemistry to cosmology. Take out a string and play, for the field is young, and you just might discover something unprecedented.