Reddit mentions of Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers

Read a history, e.g. Gullberg.

I'm an autodidact and currently studying computer science. Usually I'm not good at learning with videos or websites, I prefer to study books, so I will give you the first great books in the order that I studied. I'm assuming that you're fairly good at math, if not read this book before since it's a comprehensive survey about the subject.

• Computer Science Illuminated by Nell Dale
  
• Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs - 2nd Edition
  
• Land Of Lisp (optional but very fun book)
  
• C Programming Language by Brian W. Kernighan
  
• Introduction to Algorithms by Thomas H. Cormen
  
• Concepts, Techniques, and Models of Computer Programming
  
  Now, these 5 books are going to teach the you the basics and you'll learn to program with Lisp and C, which are great languages that will improve your way of thinking about computing; and since all modern languages come from these two, after you learn them it will be easy to you pick up new languages in a matter of days, just buy a good reference book about the particular language and you're on business.
  
  After that the next step is to learn about networks, and learn HTML, CSS and Javascript:
  
  
• Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach by Keith W. Ross or Computer Networks by Andrew S. Tanenbaum
  
• HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites by Jon Duckett
  
• JavaScript and JQuery: Interactive Front-End Web Development by Jon Duckett
  
  It's also a good idea to learn Python since is heavily used for all sorts of development and a lot bitcoin apps use it:
  
  
• Learning Python, 5th Edition
  
• Programming Python by Mark Lutz
  
• Flask Web Development: Developing Web Applications with Python
  
• Creating Apps in Kivy
  
• Python Cookbook by David Beazley
  
  Now for cryptography:
  
  
• Understanding Cryptography by Christof Paar
  
• Applied Cryptography by Bruce Schneier
  
• Mastering Bitcoin By Andreas M. Antonopoulos

Here are some suggestions :

https://www.coursera.org/course/maththink

https://www.coursera.org/course/intrologic

Also, this is a great book :

http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Birth-Numbers-Jan-Gullberg/dp/039304002X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1346855198&sr=8-5&keywords=history+of+mathematics

It covers everything from number theory to calculus in sort of brief sections, and not just the history. Its pretty accessible from what I've read of it so far.


EDIT : I read what you are taking and my recommendations are a bit lower level for you probably. The history of math book is still pretty good, as it gives you an idea what people were thinking when they discovered/invented certain things.

For you, I would suggest :

http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Mathematical-Analysis-Third-Edition/dp/007054235X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346860077&sr=8-1&keywords=rudin

http://www.amazon.com/Invitation-Linear-Operators-Matrices-Bounded/dp/0415267994/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1346860052&sr=8-4&keywords=from+matrix+to+bounded+linear+operators

http://www.amazon.com/Counterexamples-Analysis-Dover-Books-Mathematics/dp/0486428753/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1346860077&sr=8-5&keywords=rudin

http://www.amazon.com/DIV-Grad-Curl-All-That/dp/0393969975

http://www.amazon.com/Nonlinear-Dynamics-Chaos-Applications-Nonlinearity/dp/0738204536/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346860356&sr=1-2&keywords=chaos+and+dynamics

http://www.amazon.com/Numerical-Analysis-Richard-L-Burden/dp/0534392008/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346860179&sr=1-5&keywords=numerical+analysis

This is from my background. I don't have a strong grasp of topology and haven't done much with abstract algebra (or algebraic _____) so I would probably recommend listening to someone else there. My background is mostly in graduate numerical analysis / functional analysis. The Furata book is expensive, but a worthy read to bridge the link between linear algebra and functional analysis. You may want to read a real analysis book first however.

One thing to note is that topology is used in some real analysis proofs. After going through a real analysis book you may also want to read some measure theory, but I don't have an excellent recommendation there as the books I've used were all hard to understand for me.

For a general overview of everything to do with the history of math, which might be what you're looking for, I recommend Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers. Very inspiring with a little bit of "how to do everything."

I have Mathematics:From the Birth of Numbers and it’s excellent.

Highly recommend

> This extraordinary work takes the reader on a long and fascinating journey--from the dual invention of numbers and language, through the major realms of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus, to the final destination of differential equations, with excursions into mathematical logic, set theory, topology, fractals, probability, and assorted other mathematical byways. The book is unique among popular books on mathematics in combining an engaging, easy-to-read history of the subject with a comprehensive mathematical survey text. Intended, in the author's words, "for the benefit of those who never studied the subject, those who think they have forgotten what they once learned, or those with a sincere desire for more knowledge," it links mathematics to the humanities, linguistics, the natural sciences, and technology.

I read Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers in high school / early college. It's a long book, but it's definitely worth checking out.

Well, if you want something light and accessible and suitable for the layperson, I'm quite fond of Jan Gullberg's Mathematics from the Birth of Numbers. It goes over basically everything you would typically learn in primary and secondary school, and it presents everything with historical background. But it doesn't go into tremendous detail on each topic, and it doesn't provide the most rigorous development. It's more of a high-level overview.

But if you really want to learn some mathematics, on a deep and serious level, be prepared to read and study a lot. It's a rewarding journey, and we can give you book recommendations for specific topics, but it does take a lot of discipline and a lot of time. If you want to go that route, I would recommend starting with an intro to proofs book. I like Peter J. Eccles's An Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning, but there are many other popular books along the same line. And you can supplement it with a book on the history of mathematics (or just read Gullberg alongside the more serious texts).

You might try checking out the book, "Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers"

Jan Gullberg's Mathematics: From the birth of numbers is a great book I'd recommend: https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Birth-Numbers-Jan-Gullberg/dp/039304002X

It introduces a lot of mathematical topics starting from the "simplest" (numbers you asked about) and advances to common stuff found in university studies (although not going extremely far), but what might be the biggest feat and useful to your case is that tells as a non-fictional story while at it, explaining mathematical tools, their history and how they relate to each other extremely well in a way a normal college textbook doesn't, and it doesn't assume you already know everything from school.

For history:https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Birth-Numbers-Jan-Gullberg/dp/039304002X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1538960578&sr=1-1

There are a fair number of popular level books about mathematics that are definitely interesting and generally not too challenging mathematically. William Dunham is fantastic. His Journey through Genius goes over some of the most important and interesting theorems in the history of mathematics and does a great job of providing context, so you get a feel for the mathematicians involved as well as how the field advanced. His book on Euler is also interesting - though largely because the man is astounding.

The Man who Loved only Numbers is about Erdos, another character from recent history.

Recently I was looking for something that would give me a better perspective on what mathematics was all about and its various parts, and I stumbled on Mathematics by Jan Gullberg. Just got it in the mail today. Looks to be good so far.

An RCA cable modem/router combo unit from our ISP.

Book is called: "Mathematics from the birth of numbers"
http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Birth-Numbers-Jan-Gullberg/dp/039304002X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321966815&sr=8-1

Try Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers by Jan Gullberg.

I'm reading Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers right now, I recommend it for your needs.

Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers

It's gigantic, but really entertaining to flip around in.

I'm a lot like you, very self directed learning (I spent as little time in HS as I possibly could, and nearly flunked out because of it). This book really sparked my interest in math. Everything from why zero is so exceptional and how hard it was for our species to realize it, to how to figure out a square root by hand (maybe boring, but I was interested in the method, since just pushing the square root button on a calc was dissatisfying).

Calculus is something that is damn near impossible to get without help (you can do it, but you probably won't understand it). Finally, it's pretty important to talk to people to see what's worth learning and what you haven't considered yet. Speaking of programming, if you fail to get yourself out in there and talk to other people (people that are better than you at something) you are liable to feel proud of inventing something like bubble-sort.