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Ask HN: How to get into maths again?

4 pointsby philippnagelalmost 9 years ago
During high school and afterwards I never really cared about maths. Now through web development I got really into cryptography and suffer from my lack of interest a few years ago.<p>Can any of you recommend resources (e.g. MOOC&#x27;s or books) to learn on my own?

1 comment

ColinWrightalmost 9 years ago
As always, it depends ...<p>If you just want to learn the maths relevant to your specific interests then you can simply pick a page on wikipedia, build a tree of topics you need to cover, then start to knock them off one by one, building a web of knowledge as you go. Then ask questions on <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;math.stackexchange.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;math.stackexchange.com&#x2F;</a> making sure you take the advice about how to ask questions the smart way[0][1].<p>If, on the other hand, you want to get into studying maths generally and build your maths study skills, then I would recommend starting with a really good maths text book and work through it, doing all the exercises, reviewing earlier material, and taking it seriously. Two options are Spivak[2][3] which claims to be about calculus, but is really about analysis, or &quot;Sets and Groups&quot; by Green[4]. The latter is great to create the underlying basic knowledge you need for cryptography, but more, it teaches you how to do maths properly.<p>You could also just pick something you think is interesting on Khan Academy[5] and go for it.<p>But having said all that, it&#x27;s tough to get back into maths, and you need to make sure you really understand your motivation. Most people don&#x27;t want to write a book, they want to <i>have written</i> a book. Most people don&#x27;t want to study maths, they want to <i>have studied</i> maths. If you&#x27;re not serious, you won&#x27;t succeed, especially with no one to track your progress, answer questions, and generally encourage, coax, support, and inspire you, it will be tough.<p>How well motivated are you?<p>[0] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.catb.org&#x2F;esr&#x2F;faqs&#x2F;smart-questions.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.catb.org&#x2F;esr&#x2F;faqs&#x2F;smart-questions.html</a><p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.mikeash.com&#x2F;getting_answers.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.mikeash.com&#x2F;getting_answers.html</a><p>[2] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;computo.fismat.umich.mx&#x2F;~fhernandez&#x2F;Cursos&#x2F;Calculo2015&#x2F;spivak.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;computo.fismat.umich.mx&#x2F;~fhernandez&#x2F;Cursos&#x2F;Calculo201...</a><p>[3] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Calculus-4th-Michael-Spivak&#x2F;dp&#x2F;0914098918" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Calculus-4th-Michael-Spivak&#x2F;dp&#x2F;0914098...</a><p>[4] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.co.uk&#x2F;Sets-Groups-Course-Algebra-Second&#x2F;dp&#x2F;0710212275" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.co.uk&#x2F;Sets-Groups-Course-Algebra-Second&#x2F;d...</a><p>[5] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.khanacademy.org&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.khanacademy.org&#x2F;</a>