/lit/ - Literature

bump for interest

>>11339228
Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter

The Gold Bug Variations by Richard Powers

The Indian Clerk by David Leavitt

>>11339374
Please don't read fucking geb, that pompous meandering hack

I think GH Hardy, an actual mathematician, wrote one

>>11339378
A contrarian opinion on the only widely read book from that list? Color me surprised.

>>11339228

Hardy's Mathematician's Apology is very short, non-technical, and gives you some real insight into modern math from the pure sperg point of view.

Villani recently wrote a book which may be good. I haven't read it.

Just read Euclid's Elements.

>>11339384
It's widely read for posturing, not because it's good.

Read a history of mathematics textbook. Euclid’s elements is interesting, but preliminary and vague if there’s no context.
I recommend Katz history of mathematics. There’s a brief edition as well, and I use the brief edition as the required reading in my class.
Once you find the field you’re interested as well, (I.e. number theory, analysis, measure theory, set theory, algebra, mathematical logic, statistics, etc.) you can really dive in and start exploring the history and thought that led up to current contributions. To really appreciate mathematics, however, You should standardize yourself with precalculus and early calculus concepts. Once you can differentiate, integrate, and work out some applied concepts you can start moving into different fields. Personally, I find differential equations to be one of the most rewarding and interesting subjects in mathematics. I also find geometry and set theory to be rewarding as well.

Mathematics also has a lot of crossover into philosophical thought, but that’s a whole other subject as well...

T. Mathematics instructor at the university level in Canada

>literature books about mathematics, or a story about a mathematician
Can any of you spergs even read (words)?

>>11339228
Try the works of Greg Egan

>>11339456
Differential equations are the most boring shit ever. Just little puzzles giving no insight into mathematical structures what so ever.

>>11339228
'Birth of a theorem' by Cédric Villani.

>>11339456
>I find differential equations to be one of the most rewarding and interesting subjects in mathematics
Set theory and topology is where it's at.

>>11339456
Abstract Algebra pretty comfy too, enjoyed that class the most in my time as a maths undergrad

>>11339696
Yeah

>>11339399
>Villani recently wrote a book which may be good. I haven't read it.
It's pretty sweet

Also: Prime Obsession and Fermat's Enigma

>>11339228
> a story about a mathematician
Have you heard about our lord and saviour T H K?

>>11339228
Perfect Rigor is about that guy who solved the Poincaré conjecture. It has a ton of information on what the Russian mathematics scene was like during the commie era too which is cool

>>11341011
Perelman is cool, shame what happened to him

>>11340545
True, set theory has a surprising amount of applications across a variety of pure and applied mathematics. Set theory is one of my favourite fields.

>>11340192
Differential equations is applied, but solving these questions are rewarding. I guess I come from a teaching angle, where students become better at recognizing what kind of PDE or ODE, for example, they’re working with and the techniques used to solve them.

>>11339456
>Mathematics also has a lot of crossover into philosophical thought, but that’s a whole other subject as well...
Can you elaborate? I'm interested in phil. of math but I barely know where to start. I have Stewart Shapiro's Thinking about Mathematics which I haven't read yet so I don't know how good it is.

Also,
>Katz history of mathematics
>differential equations
Good taste, even though I haven't finished the former, and for the latter only studied up until ODEs in an undergrad class.

>>11341571
Bertrand Russell for starters
Wittgenstein
Russell was more a logician that made advancements to set theory and geometry.
Wittgenstein is more using mathematical logic to test the limits of language. (I'm sure many of us know his Tractatus).

There's a bit of theory why this relationship between Philosophy, language, and mathematics exploded in the late 19th and early 20th century, but my personal take is language, philosophy and mathematics have always been intertwined. It's only when the academy made this separation between fields separate did people like Russel make a connection b/w fields.

Look at the history of astronomy (which was considered a liberal art for much of human history), or even famous mathematicians like Leibniz to see how they used mathematical though to prove philosophical treatises on a variety of subjects.

>>11341603
sorry, I meant

>It's only when the academy made this separation between fields explicit did people like Russel make a connection b/w fields

>>11341603
Wittgenstein sucks at math
his "proof" of russell's paradox is so illogical it should not even call a proof in some point
he really misunderstood incompleteness theorem, he said some bullshit like he being a some drunk man, and he kinda awake and say in a gut like "nah it is just math theorem, philosophy is too meta kkekk"
not only second one is messed up, but first one is such a bullshit even Wittgenstein fanboys not deeply touch that one
he is nowhere more logical, smart, clear, impactful, and important than godel

>>11341571
Read "From Frege to Gödel"

Récoltes et Semailles.

Flatland

>>11339424
I'm reading Strange Loop and I'm afraid I'm coming to the same conclusion.
Hofstadter's smart enough to recognize meta-cognition but doesn't seem to have anything to say about it, at all. A bunch of mathematical exercises dedicated to demonstrating meta-cognition and exclusive self-referencing isn't all that interesting.
In Strange Loop Hofstadter starts out by saying that "nobody really 'got' GEB", which to me indicates that he either is very poor at articulating his deeper message or is completely imagining it exists.

Hofstadter is also an absolute fucking boomer.

>>11339228
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_mathematics
Read this

>>11339228

A Beautiful Mind.

The story of John Nash.

>>11339228
Have you seen Principia(the newton one), /lit/?
... im literally learning physics and I've not.
opinion on the book?

>>11340192
There is insight, but you need to wade deep into functional analysis to get it.

>>11339424
My point was it was the only one you'd heard of and you went into kneejerk posturing mode.

Anyone else feel like the fundamental concepts underlying mathematics are the worst-communicated information in widely-studied fields, period?
Starting around junior high I began seriously struggling with math, partially because I couldn't find motivation to pay attention in class. It wasn't until way after highschool that I started finding mathematical systems that expressed in small part the underlying concepts of mathematics as a field, and now I'm too far out of practice even with simple math to explore those concepts myself.
I feel like probably 90% of the adult population has no clue why they should even give a shit about math, or what the implications of having an extensive set of logical tools even means in regard to our understanding of reality. I don't think most people, even those perfectly comfortable with day-to-day mathematics, even think there's anything more to find in the field.

Metaphysical principles of the infinitesimal calculus

>>11341694
Oui !

>>11341793
Man; I should have studied pure math instead of this bullshit mathematical economics because I thought it could get me a job. Now instead of appreciating mathematics for its own sake I shuffle columns around to make regressions work. ODE's in game theory are difficult enough but not satisfying in any sense. I might as well kill myself.

>>11340657
In what ways mathematics shaped your mind? I am thinking of taking mathematics in undergrad in the hopes that it would peak my ability of rational thinking.

Does anyone have any reccomendations for someone who dropped out of University, studying mathematics. But now kinda misses it.

>>11342158
>he thought a fake field of number crunching propaganda was going to fulfill his lust for knowledge
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
>>11342562
it won’t do anything for stupid people, there are 105 iq math majors

>>11342653
:(

The propaganda was heavy for my 17 year old mind seeking social confirmation. I even liked set theory the most of my high school mathematics.

>>11341947
The human mind was never intended to do math. That's all I can say. It is very unnatural to the brain, which explains why it's relatively difficult for most people, so naturally you shouldn't expect it to be very easy to communicate, or find the people who want to try.

>>11342643
Follow online mathematics courses if just buying textbooks is too dry.

>>11342643
YT has MIT courses for college level physics and maths, you can use kahn academy.

>>>/sci/ has a detailed wiki with book reccomendations for hs, undergrad, graduate level maths all the way through analysis and theoretical maths. you can also make a thread and they will guaranteed help, they are v agreeable just weather the insults from the angsty ugly pajeets and chinks

most importantly be prepared to do work you have to do proofs and exercises or you will not get it

>>11342720
>>11342735
thank lads.

Best textbook for algebra? I'm using Khan academy at the moment...

>>11341721
>In Strange Loop Hofstadter starts out by saying that "nobody really 'got' GEB", which to me indicates that he either is very poor at articulating his deeper message or is completely imagining it exists.
GEB was supposed to explain consciousness by analogy.
Most people thought it was about the music, art, and math instead and didn't see them as analogies.
Strange Loop therefore just talks about consciouness explicitly.

>>11342763
>>11342773
go to >>>/sci/‘s wiki page and follow the math links

also libgen (dot) io is a database which has millions of books on it including textbooks. i downloaded a dozen books on chemistry, physics, math, and biology 10 months ago which im working through. you should make liberal use of it. many books, in fact most of them, which we discuss on /lit/ are available for free on libgen

please do not pay for education unless you need a degree or are giving a gift to someone. download books off archive, gutenberg, and libgen (dot) io

and should u take an interest in science, sci-hub (dot) tw is a place u can punch in the doi of any journal article and unlock for free. all of these make studying extremely easy. MIT courseware has lectures from the last two decades from world class professors who can help you learn, but you must do exercises and proofs and study. you cannot into math and science without that pound of flesh

>>11340192
Strongly disagree, just because of the incredibly useful applications in science and engineering.

the answer to your question is yes

>>11341781
don’t learn physics from newton. much better alternatives have been given in this thread.

mathematician's apology by hardy

gödels proof by nagel and newman

>>11342562
Do it if you like it, not if you think it'll make you smarter. I did it because I enjoyed calc in high school and I wanted to learn more about maths. Looking back it's crazy how much I've learnt that i take for granted, and I've achieved my goal of learning more so it was worth it for me. It does help you think differently about problems but it does (for me at least) tend to bias your mind into finding numerical solutions for problems, which is good and bad in some situations

>>11342789
>Strange Loop therefore just talks about consciouness explicitly.
But only by way of roundabout analogy, which I'm sure Hofstadter finds charming but is actually incredibly irritating. Strange Loop was published in 2007 ffs, the language to discuss self-exclusive consciousness is much better founded than when GEB was first published.

>>11342713
>the human mind was never meant to extrapolate patterns observable in nature
ahahahaa

>>11342872
That anon, I think, was looking just for history, not to learn from Newton. Which, I agree, is not the way to go about it.

I read one of those free ebook versions of the published essays on the theory of relativity and it was incredibly interesting, at least so long as you can follow the graphs with only the text to guide you. Or you could get the exact same info faster and easier by watching a youtube video since it's a fairly sensible and short subject

>>11344121
Relativity is simultaneously the coolest and dumbest thing in the realm of human knowledge

>>11341058

The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics by Norton Juster is classic

Theres a short:
https://youtu.be/hgqUya0kGPA

>>11341703
This. It's a beautiful piece.

>>11344153
Based unit

>>11343002
http://www.chortle.co.uk/features/2013/09/29/18747/why_mathematicians_make_great_comedy_writers

This article kinda inspired me to it actually.
Also the fact that I can't really decide on a career yet, so mathematics is gonna keep my options open ended.

>>11339228
Elements of the history of mathematics, from Bourbaki. It is a bit old, but still among my favourites.

>>11342713
>something difficult=unnatural for the brain
Uh ok. Most of all stem fields are unnatural for the brain then.

>>11341721
>>11343055
>In Strange Loop Hofstadter starts out by saying that "nobody really 'got' GEB", which to me indicates that he either is very poor at articulating his deeper message
This. In my edition of GEB (which I have yet to read) the opening also states that. I have, however, read The Mind's I, which includes "Prelude... Ant Fugue", an excerpt from GEB in which he spends 40 pages waffling through several analogies about conscious/intelligent systems rising from unintelligent parts (the primary analogy having ants as the parts, the colony being the system), then condenses the exact same point to ten pages in the Reflection for that essay.

>>11339228
I really liked A Doubter's Almanac - a novel about multiple generations of mathematicians. Doesn't go particularly deep into the mathematics though so if that's what you're looking for I'd look elsewhere.

>>11339228
Apostol Calculus is a textbook, but it has a lot of rather literary digression on each of its topics.

>>11345327
Is this better or worse to study than Spivak?

Pythagoras is a good start for learning about a mathematician.

>>11345182
>40 pages to discuss the widely understood concept of emergent intelligence
What the fuck Hof

>>11346609
Unfortunately he doesn’t have any writings.

You would learn about Pythagorean mathematics by reading Elements and Pythagorean Neo-Platonism by reading Nicomachus’ Introduction to Arithmetic

>>11343059
>math is observed in nature
just stop this meme

No-one's mentioned Alice in Wonderland...?

>>11346724
Is there an Alice guide with a mathematical focus?

Why not just learn some math? Maybe some basic logic and set theory. It's not that hard, and you get to dip your toes in some mind-blowing content, e.g. cardinality.

I read a pretty interesting book as an undergrad in math--How A Mathematician Thinks by William Byers. It's a bit more technical in some areas, but it might be of interest to you, OP.

I would also recommend Love and Math by Edward Frenkel. It's in more of the "pop math" vein you're looking for, but I found some of the sections a bit lacking.

Other than that, perhaps it could be a good idea to read some philosophy of mathematics. Obviously you want to start out with a good foundation in traditional mathematics, but I would encourage you to explore other areas such as constructive mathematics (Errett Bishop is probably the best place to start...then maybe work back into LEJ Brouwer and intuitionism. Don't start there though because it will be out of your grasp) as well. Personally, the algorithmic nature of constructive mathematics has turned me into somewhat of a pluralist mathematician.

Sorry for the blog post.

>>11347159
Have no idea how to go about it.

>>11346646
>what is the golden ratio

>>11345748
I think it's a bit more "literary" then Spivak

>>11347604
So, worse? Or what do you mean?

>>11343002
>finding numerical solutions for problems
fucking engineers man when will they learn

>>11346625
Did I mention that it's written in script format? And that it's a dialogue between a Tortoise, a Crab, an Anteater, and Achilles? He also included two pictures he drew himself in order to further elaborate a point about perspectives in systems. The first time this occurs, the characters spend a page and a half arguing about what the image portrays, which is the word "MU" written out with repetitions of "reductionism" and "holism".
>ANTEATER: Absurd! Your "mu" is as silly as a cow's moo. I'll have none of this Zen wishy-washiness.
>CRAB: Ridiculous! Your "mu" is as silly as a kitten's mew. I'll have none of this Zen washy-wishiness.
>ACHILLES: Oh, dear! We're getting nowhere fast.
You said it, m8.

>>11339456
Matt Scott is that you?

>>11339228
Just take a maths course at uni or tafe or whatever ffs

>>11349265
Taking math courses is one thing, wanting to hear some meta level garbage from mathematicians or to read something about their life is another.
>>11341694
This is pure gem, 900+ pages of mathematician's life (and not some random, it's Grothendiek desu, best mind of late time) mixed with tons of juggling with math ideas and concepts and pretty decent prose. Not translated (suck it EOP), though as far as i know there are Russian and Japanese translations).
Of what wasn't recommended yet, i'd add I'm a Mathematician by Norbert Wiener and autobio by that japanese algebraic geometer (the name and the book slipped my mind).

>>11350234
>autobio by that japanese algebraic geometer
The Map of My Life by Goro Shimura.
Also Weil's The Apprenticeship of a Mathematician.

>>11348015
They're both good books, but Spivak is much more of a straightup textbook, going straight into the dry nitty gritty mechanics, definitions, theorems etc. Compared with Apostol which opens with a literal essay and is peppered with digressions where he mentions history and other notable historical works.

>>11348018
Never. It's their nature.

bumpurrito

>>11346646
math is just an extrapolation on logic. logic is observed in nature.
You can't see things in 2 different places at once, nor can you see triangles with 4 sides.

>>11353263
>math is just an extrapolation on logic. logic is observed in nature.

*blocks your path*

>>11346646
>he thinks mathematics isn't derived from our intution of passing time

LMAO LOOK AT THIS FAGGOT RIGHT HERE

>>11339228
If your just getting into it Alex Bellos books are good, otherwise
Godel, Esher, Bach
and Descartes Dream are my favorites

>>11348018
this. that guy got a computation degree, not a math degree