Any mathematicians out there? My darn curiosity has gotten the better of me again, and I’m finding myself delving into the strange and mysterious world of math. Just bought A History of Mathematics by Carl Bover, and I was wondering if anyone knew of any good books on the subject. Let me clarify, I am not seeking textbooks, or specialized fields, I’m looking more at general theory.
My, father had too write a book when he got his Phd. in Mathemetics. Its so boring. But, it might be intreasting to you.
Cryptonomikon
I’m not a mathematician but there is a wonderful book called inumeracy about the way people misuse math and statistics. I’ll send you the authors name as soon as I dig it up. It’s around here someplace.
A History of Mathematics, huh? I should check that out. I’ve always been extremely interested in matematics (more specifically, mathematics theology). My favorite mathematician is Karl Gauss. Read some stuff about him and you’ll learn that he was a perfect example of a prodigy (he was doing stuff by the time he was 12 than most people do in their entire lifetimes).
Also, if you’re really into math, I suggest renting the movie “Pi.” Its directed by Darren Aronofsky. Friggin’ awesome movie.
I am in the middle of a book on the Riemann Hypothesis by John Derbyshire – the title is Prime Obsession, and it’s pretty interesting stuff. It alternates its chapters between the history and the mathematics involved. If you’re really an advanced math guy, the math explanations will probably strike you as somewhat basic, but it is a good read.
ChrisMCL-Mathematics theology? Do you mean theory, or is this a branch that I’ve never heard of before? My interest in mathematics is purely recreational, so the more obtuse books would be of little use to me. I’ve heard of the movie pi, can’t really recall much about it, I’ll have to go look it up.
I’ve graduated with a Minor in Mathematics and took a course in History of Mathematics 3000BC to 1700AD.
One of our books was “Journey Through Genius” by William Dunham. Great book…it’s half biographical, and half mathematical proofs of theorems as they arose through history. It’s a pretty easy read, and only a 100+ pages. $22.50 CDN online at Chapters/Indigo.
here’s the info on “innumeracy” by John Allen Paulos. still in print. A good read. 4stars on amazon reader survey.
Men of Mathematics by E.T. Bell is a good one. I found this book in some old books of my Dad’s and it was quite interesting. It is a good combination of biography and theory. It traces the path of the development of mathematic theory.
Men of Mathematics is a good book.
Chaos is interesting (the one that became a best seller).
If you go to Amazon, look up one of those, then on the side you’ll see other people’s Listmania lists, you can browse through those since they’ll contain similar books; that’s how I find new things to read.
I remember in my senior year of college, it seemed that my chemistry, philosophy, physics, and math classes all were teaching the exact same thing. When you get down to the basics of everything… it’s all the same.
On that note, another book I highly recommend is “The End of Physics” which is about how much of modern science is a religion unto itself and not really science because it’s all theory (an impression I got from my archaeology classes as well).
I am a mathematician. What are you interested in? Number theory? Applied mathematics? Card-counting and prob/stat? Check out any book on Ramanujan, he was a normal, everyday kind of guy who figured out a bunch of theories on his own. Also, for a good introduction, read “The Mathematical Universe : An Alphabetical Journey Through the Great Proofs, Problems, and Personalities” Let me know if you want more ideas.
Genpo-Like I said, I’m really just interested in the overall field. The last time I even thought about math was 10 years ago in college algebra, and I really struggled through that. I’m going to give the bboks listed here a start, and see how far it goes.