Best Math Book You'Ve Ever Read - Math

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this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2014
Best math book you've ever read? (self.math)

238 points (95% upvoted)
238 submitted 2 years ago by [deleted] shortlink: https://redd.it/2efz50
This could be any math book. A book that after

you read it, you thought it was the best you have username password
ever read. Also how did it affect your view on
maths? Mine would have to be 'Alex's Adventure remember me reset password login
in Number land'.
228 comments share
top 200 comments show all 228

sorted by: best
[] christianitie Algebraic Topology 27 points 2 years ago
"Algebra" by Mac Lane and Birkhoff really stood out to

me as being phenomenal for learning basic algebra. I
read through all 600 pages, and it was a very smooth
read. I think the chapter on matrices was particularly
special, even though I already knew the basics of
linear transformations before reading it.
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[] mathdestruction 7 points 2 years ago
Came here to post this book, as well as Basic Submit a new link
Notions of Algebra by Shafarevich. Absolutely
beautiful algebra in both! Submit a new text post
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math
[] [deleted] 4 points 2 years ago
subscribe 210,182 mathematicians
I second this! I'm currently studying basic algebra
with this text and it is really amazing. I particularly 637 mathematicians online
appreciate the motivation and exposure to category Welcome to /r/math.

theory fantastic.
This subreddit is for discussion of mathematical
links and questions. Please read the FAQ
[] 66666thats6sixes 80 points 2 years ago before posting.
As a kid, "The Number Devil" was one of the most Homework problems, practice problems, and
similar questions should be directed to
inspiring books I read. It packaged so many relatively /r/learnmath, /r/homeworkhelp or
advanced concepts in a way a third grader could follow /r/cheatatmathhomework. Do not ask or
and appreciate. answer this type of question in /r/math.
permalink embed If you're asking for help learning/understanding

something mathematical, post in the Simple
[] Yakone 5 points 2 years ago Questions thread or /r/learnmath. This includes
I came here to say this. I'm glad that it is more reference requests - also see our lists of
recommended books and free online resources.
popular than I thought. It trully is a great book.
https://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/2efz50/best_math_book_youve_ever_read/ 1/22
7/10/2017 Best math book you've ever read? : math
The only problem with it is that it took me a while If you are asking for a calculation to be made,
please post to /r/askmath or /r/learnmath.
for me to start saying "factorial" rather than
If you are asking for advice on choosing classes
"vroom!". or career prospects, please post in the stickied
permalink embed parent Career & Education Questions thread.
[] WinkyTheElf Logic [ ] 11 points 2 years ago Image-only posts should be on-topic and should
promote discussion; please do not post
I read it as an adult and loved it. memes or similar content here. Please be
permalink embed parent polite and civil when commenting, and always
follow reddiquette.
[] daturkel 4 points 2 years ago
All posts and comments should be directly
I read this probably two or three times as a kid. related to mathematics. General political
Really loved it. Now I'm about to wrap up my math debate is not permitted.
bachelors degree. Filters: Hide Image Posts Show All Posts
Recurring Threads and Resources
[] sarcastic_potato 38 points 2 years ago What Are You Working On? - posted Mondays
"The Man who Loved only Numbers" by Paul Hoffman Career and Education Q&A - Every other
on the life of Paul Erdos. Absolutely captivating. Thursday
permalink embed Simple Questions - Posted Fridays
A Compilation of Free, Online Math Resources.
[] bearddeliciousbi 19 points 2 years ago*
Click here to chat with us on IRC!
Gdel's Proof, by Ernest Nagel and James Newman. It's
a short, very concise book, and it provides a wonderful Using LaTeX
introduction to Gdel's incompleteness theorems. It To view LaTeX on reddit, install one of the
fueled my interest in mathematical logic. following:
MathJax userscript (install Greasemonkey or
Edit: The name of the second author is now correct. Tampermonkey first)
permalink embed TeXtheWorld Chrome extension
[] beaverteeth92 Statistics 6 points 2 years ago TeXtheWorld userscript
I read that book for a paper. Definitely a lot easier [; e^{\pi i} + 1 = 0 ;]
to understand than Gdel's paper! Post the equation above like this:
`[; e^{\pi i}+1=0 ;]`
You may need to add four spaces before or put
[] [deleted] 18 points 2 years ago backticks around math fragments.
Elements of the The Theory of Functions and
Using Superscripts and Subscripts
Functional Analysis by Kolmogorov.
x*_sub_* makes xsub
This was the first real book on mathematics I've ever
x*`sup`* and x^(sup) both make xsup
read. Bought it for $10 bucks in high school. Perhaps sup
x*_sub_`sup`* makes xsub
its not the "best" book I've ever read, but it got me
into math. x*`sup`_sub_* makes xsupsub
permalink embed Other Subreddits

[] TheNamelessKing 38 points 2 years ago Math
Jame's Gleick's "Chaos"-I read it at the end of high /r/learnmath
school,before I understood a lot of what was going /r/mathbooks
/r/cheatatmathhomework
on,but it definitely sparked a lot of my interest in /r/matheducation
maths and continues to fuel my interest in /r/casualmath
chaotic/dynamical systems. /r/puremathematics
/r/mathpics
permalink embed /r/mathriddles
[] exbaddeathgod 7 points 2 years ago Tools
I loved that book. For me it sparked my interest in /r/mathematica
/r/matlab
Topology when it talked about the Poincar
conjecture. Before I read it I new I just loved math, /r/sagemath

but wasn't sure what I wanted to really do. Now I Related fields
want to study topology. Although I'm a year or two /r/actuary
/r/algorithms
away seeing as I'm a freshman in college. /r/compsci
permalink embed parent /r/interdisciplinary
/r/statistics
[] meldyr 6 points 2 years ago
a community for 9 years
I have to add non-linear dynamics and chaos. It is
a great book on the same subject.
I finished reading it about 5 days ago and it was an

amazing experience. Recommended for anyone
interested in math and physics (or even science in
general), completly changes the way you look to a
simple system...
[] fleshhook 2 points 2 years ago
I read it about 4 months ago. Mind-blowing. I think

it has fundamentally changed the way I think about
things. MODERATORS message the moderators
permalink embed parent canyonmonkey
[] urish 2 points 2 years ago
yesmanapple Geometry/Topology
inherentlyawesome Algebraic Topology
I read it when I was 12, and then re-read it over amdpox Geometric Analysis
and over many times. I loved it so much. AutoModerator
AngelTC Algebraic Geometry
I remember being intrigued by the discussion of
dogdiarrhea Dynamical Systems
complex numbers, and trying to figure out why the
about moderation team
hell was complex multiplication defined in such a
weird way. I tried to generalize it from the < > discussions in r/math X
geometry of ordinary multiplication but never
2317 166 comments
managed it...
Weierstrass functions: Continuous
permalink embed parent everywhere but differentiable nowhere
[] noncommutative_ass 4 points 2 years ago
Not a math book.

[] Globalscree 2 points 2 years ago
It's on my shelf, waiting for me to finish the origin of species. I was given it by my aunt.
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[] brewspoon 37 points 2 years ago
Visual Complex Analysis. Doubles as the first real math book I ever bought.
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[] wes_reddit 5 points 2 years ago
Yup. Takes a "mystical" topic and clarifies everything completely.


Abbott's Understanding Analysis is what got me interested in real analysis in the first place. The
presentation is excellent and easy to read.
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As an undergrad who's terrified of my real analysis class starting in 3 days, thank you for the
recommendation.
[] Tcdunbar729 9 points 2 years ago
I'm in real analysis this semester as well. I worked through baby Rudin over the summer,
so that counts as my favorite math book, I think you'll be fine. My strategy is to not let
anything go, study everything until I understand it completely.
[] amdpox Geometric Analysis 6 points 2 years ago
Fantastic book. Despite my introductory analysis lecturer being one of the best I had, this was
one of the few textbooks I actually read during my undergrad.
[] bearddeliciousbi 3 points 2 years ago
I just started reading it and it's superb!

[] disallow 5 points 2 years ago
Abbott's Understanding Analysis

What are the prerequisites for this?
Understanding Understanding Analysis

[] GlacialAcetate 70 points 2 years ago
It's kinda more philosophy or theology than math, but Flatland was a great book.
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[] grammarxcore Combinatorics 7 points 2 years ago
Ian Stewart's Flatterland was my favorite sequel to that.

[] bigyug13 5 points 2 years ago
Great book!
[] PurelyApplied Grad School Panelist 3 points 2 years ago
Definitely a philosophy book, but you might also enjoy James P. Case's Finite and Infinite
Games (if you haven't read it already). You can find a .pdf here.
[] GlacialAcetate 2 points 2 years ago
That seems really cool, thanks! I'll leave this comment here so I can find it later
[] TheSandreckoner 55 points 2 years ago
Definately "A Mathematician's Apology" by G H Hardy. It's a short book that really explains the
beauty of mathematics and the way many mathematicians think and feel about Maths. It's only
~50 pages and it's out of copyright so you can read a free pdf on the internet.
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The part where he talks about reductio ad absurdum is so beautiful!

Reductio ad absurdum, which Euclid loved so much, is one of a mathematician's finest
weapons. It is a far finer gambit than any chess gambit: a chess player may offer the
sacrifice of a pawn or even a piece, but a mathematician offers the game.
It is isn't it? My favorite passage is this one:

A mathematician, like a painter or a poet, is a maker of patterns. If his patterns are
more permanent than theirs, it is because they are made with ideas. A painter makes
patterns with shapes and colours, a poet with words.
After a few drinks if someone asks me why I studied Maths I like to whip that one out.
[] thabonch 3 points 2 years ago
A professor of mine slightly misquoted that, so I never found out where it came from: "A
mathematician throws the game and still manages to win."
Thanks for the source.
[] meeblebus 6 points 2 years ago
This is one of the best books I've ever read. It is my go-to gift for mathy people.
That's a good shout. I always thought it would be a good read for a spouse of a
mathematician, to help them understand their SO a bit better.
[] shirlz 6 points 2 years ago
definitely agree!
[] goiken 8 points 2 years ago
I took the advice and it kind of sucked.

Does he do anything else, besides making archaic claims about what it supposedly means do
be an accomplished man [sic] or indulging in ridiculous pathos. I guess, I won't find out,
cause I put it away after he finally considered actual maths, which was Euclid in 12 and I felt
it was utterly unoriginal and already been discussed to death.
[] johnnyrottenjr 10 points 2 years ago
Did you get the part where it was published 74 years ago?
[] goiken 5 points 2 years ago
Sure. But how's that a justification? Thinking of (Russel 1920) as an example of one
who takes a significantly more demure approach to talking about maths.
That's because it was written in the 1940's, it was the first popular maths book like this,
everything else was a copy of it's success. What you're saying is like saying Star Wars was
boring and predictable or Hamlet was full of clichs.
Thank you very much for posting this link. Being a voracious reader, I thrive on finding new
and interesting books about a variety of topics. You've no idea how happy I am that you have
posted this! Best regards.
Thanks! I'm glad I could make you happy.

[] raunaqrox 2 points 2 years ago
thanks for that, gonna go read it!!

You're welcome. If you do like it there's a version with quite a large foreword by C P Snow
that is also worth reading. The formatting on this link is much more difficult to read
however.
[] raunaqrox 3 points 2 years ago
Great, I wanted to read more mathematics but to read about mathematics is equally
fun .
[] Mitchhell 15 points 2 years ago
Spivak's Calculus
/r/spivak
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[] andthatswhyyoudont 13 points 2 years ago
Div, grad, curl and all that.

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[] couple_moment 13 points 2 years ago
Number Theory by George Andrews. It has both multiplicative and additive (partitions) number
theory, and some combinatorics. It makes use of a few series theorems from analysis. The use of
mathematical induction in the proofs is beautiful. And the proof of the representation theorem at
the beginning of the book is sublime.
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[] ACardAttack 12 points 2 years ago
Journey Through Genius, I couldn't put it down, it goes through some of the greatest/most well
known proofs in math. It is a book that goes into detail and while one may need to reread a
section a couple times to comprehend, it does a great job of explaining what is going in
http://www.amazon.com/Journey-through-Genius-Theorems-
Mathematics/dp/014014739X/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=undefined&sr=8-
1&keywords=journey+through+genius
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[] venomoushealer 6 points 2 years ago
I read Journey through Genius as part of a maths history class I took in college. It's really a
remarkable book!
[] mrs_riccardi 3 points 2 years ago
I came here to say this. This book provided a great overview of mathematical history. It
covered some amazing topics but it was also a great read.
[] mc8675309 10 points 2 years ago
G-K-P's Concrete Math impart because the problems inspired me to study math and in part
because the techniques allowed me to confound my professors and make them really think to
grade my homework since I was using techniques they didn't see on a regular basis.
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[] [deleted] 2 years ago*
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[] Bushido_Baron 4 points 2 years ago
Is this really a Cal3/LinearAlg/DiffEq book all rolled into one?

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[] [deleted] 2 years ago*
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[] Bushido_Baron 3 points 2 years ago
Ah, thanks!
I've just finished Differential Equations and about to start taking some higher level
math classes (im an engineer so it's really just for fun), so something like this might be
good after i finish linear and discrete.
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[] dsfox 9 points 2 years ago
Mathematics, its Content, Methods, and Meaning - an amazing survey of analytic geometry,
algebra, ordinary and partial differential equations, the calculus of variations, functions of a
complex variable, prime numbers, theories of probability and functions, linear and non-Euclidean
geometry, topology, functional analysis, and more.
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I don't have a clear, single best, so the one which first came to my mind as one of the bests:
Proofs from THE BOOK by Martin Aigner and Gnter M. Ziegler.
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[] Kerio 69 points 2 years ago
Does Hofstadter's Gdel, Escher, Bach count as a math book?

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Yeah sure, why was it the best math book you've ever read?
[] VerlorenesMetallgeld 2 points 2 years ago
I'll answer: it's been a while since I read it, but I remember it being very hard and very
long but yet hard to put down.
[] vendetta2115 [ ] 9 points 2 years ago
Metamagical Themas is great as well. It's also an anagram for Mathematical Games!
[] Jumhyn 5 points 2 years ago
This would be mine as well. I had to read it in chunks over the course of a few months, taking
a couple weeks reading and then a couple of weeks break to process. Easily one of the densest
books I have ever read.
[] PetGiraffe 4 points 2 years ago
Simply an amazing and thought provoking book

[] jatheist 6 points 2 years ago
I was thinking the same thing. Incompleteness theorem, logic, patterns, etc. Sounds like a
math book!
[] Ellit 6 points 2 years ago
Yes! And it's great.

[] bat020 2 points 2 years ago
glad this got a mention, my instinctive choice too.

[] moarthenfeeling 1 point 2 years ago
It's a great book, but I can't finish it no matter how hard I try, haha. Lots of people seem to
struggle too.
[] Wylkus 1 point 2 years ago
I stalled on this book for a very simple reason. The first huge chunk of the book is devoted to
explaining concepts I had already learned in my Discrete Mathematics course, but, GEB
actually made all of those concepts seem more complicated, harder to understand, and less
entertaining than my college course. I'm open to the idea that it gets better, but it just made
me wonder if the whole books wasn't more obscurantist than enlightening.
[] harriswill 8 points 2 years ago
"A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper"

It's anectotal analysis based on stochastic models of real-life events in the early 90's.
Not only was this great for a young aspiring Actuary, how relevant it remains 20 years later is
amazing. Unrest in the Mideast, Civil War in the Balkans, the analysis in the book stand as
accurate today as they were when the book was first published.
If you want to read a chapter to check it out, I recommend the chapter on democracy (Couldn't
find the book at the moment :/). The "power of a vote" and the idea that appealing to the biggest
demo isn't the best idea was fascinating.
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Actuary here. That sounds like a really good book. I'll have to check it out (in those rare
moments when I'm not studying...).
[] KCB24 3 points 2 years ago
+1. "A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper" is great. Stay away from "A Mathematician Plays
The Stock Market"; much better books have already been written about the same topics (such
as: how markets are efficient, does technical analysis work, how to quantify risk).
[] souldust 23 points 2 years ago
John Derbyshire's Prime Obsession. In a very casual and conversational tone he ramps up the
math needed to discuss the reimann-zeta hypothesis. He completly lost me around rings but I
read forward all the same. The history of mathematicians was also great!
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Are you talking about this book

[] Unnamedentity 5 points 2 years ago
he means this
[] milton_thomas 1 point 2 years ago
Not that it takes away from the book's quality, but the author is kind of a racist dick.
[] Marcassin Math Education 13 points 2 years ago
Not a book, exactly. My father collected every Mathematical Games article that Martin Gardner
ever wrote for Scientific American. When I discovered them in junior high, I devoured them with a
fascinated passion. They gave me a love for mathematics that I never lost.
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[] umaro900 7 points 2 years ago
I love Foundations of Analysis (Edmund Landau) and Baby Rudin. The organization and straight-
forwardness is really appealing. A book like Artin's Algebra, while a comprehensive undergraduate
text, doesn't exhibit the same clear structure and cohesion.
I would also count Introduction to the Theory of Computation (Sipser) and Theory of Games and
Economic Behaviors (Von Neumann + Morgernstern) if they count. Sipser's book for its really low
barrier to entry, organization, and insight. It's one of the few math texts I would probably give to
high school students. TGEB is a beautiful insight into the mind of Von Neumann and it provides
great historical perspective.
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An Imaginary Tale and it's "sequel" Dr. Eulers Fabulos Formula. The author is superb. The books
are rich with history and interesting stories. Highly recommend!
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[] Moebiuzz 3 points 2 years ago
Ooh I didn't know the Dr. Euler's[...] was a sequel! Will definitely try to get An Imaginary Tale
then
[] poundcakejumpsuit 4 points 2 years ago
I'm a huge fan of Strang's Intro to Linear Algebra, as well as Boyce and DiPrima's Dif. Eq. and
Boundary Value Problems.
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[] two_if_by_sea 2 points 2 years ago
I love Strang's book Linear Algebra and Its Applications , which is often said to be superior to
Intro to Linear Algebra (which is itself a fantastic book). Strang's other books such as
Introduction to Applied Math and also Computational Science and Engineering are great too.
[] poundcakejumpsuit 2 points 2 years ago
Yeah, I keep meaning to order Applications. I have Bretscher's version, but I love Strang's
style. It's more legible.
Yeah, I do think Bretscher is a good companion to Strang's books, but Strang just
makes things seem so clear and easy.
Linear Algebra and Its Applications can be insanely expensive, but a pdf version can be
found online.
+1 for Introduction to Applied Mathematics. After graduating I had to teach myself Kalman
filtering for work. No joke, I pored through 15-20 papers and 4-5 textbooks trying to wrap
my head around the concept, but without much success. After reading the Kalman section
in Strang's text, it finally clicked for me. He's a brilliant communicator.
[] Komberal 11 points 2 years ago
Gdel Escher Bach - An Eternal Golden Braid.

It's focus is not math but mathematical thinking and concepts colour the entire book. And it also
shows how and where mathematical inquiries sort of break down. But that is not the main
concern.
The author Douglas Hofstadter is interested in how we can distinguish between Artificial
Intelligence and what we call "ordinary", human intelligence. He does so in one of the most
fascinating books I've read, where he has dialogues between Achilles and Mr. Tortoise who are
conversing about the most wide-ranging topics where each dialogue follows the structure of
different Bach compositions. He mixes the dialogues with his rigorous, genuine thoughts and
structures the book in an attempt to make you understand him completely. By only reading this
book I see Hofstadter as a dear friend, something that I've never experienced before from a book.
I recommend it to anyone interested in math and cognitive science!
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I read the first 80 pages of that book and was just amazed. It's a great book, but requires an
extraordinary amount of thinking (for me, anyhow). I had to re-read many sections and
ultimately determined that I'd need to take notes if I were to ever finish it.
[] skrunkle 4 points 2 years ago
Any book that doesn't require an extraordinary amount of thinking probably isn't worth
your time.
You meant the converse

"A book that requires an extraordinary amount of thinking is probably worth your time"
[] Gro-Tsen 16 points 2 years ago
It's sometimes hard to distinguish opinion on a book and opinion on the subject being presented:
there are a number of books that I loved simply because I discovered a beautiful theory that I
didn't know much about. Also, what I generally enjoy about a book is that they cover all "natural"
questions one would tend to ask about a subject: I like books that are fairly self-contained, and
give you the feeling (if slightly contrived) that nothing of importance has been left unanswered.
That being said, and trying to cover various areas of mathematics, I would nominate, in no
particular order:
Richter-Gebert's Perspectives on Projective Geometry (2011), which might have been titled
"elementary geometry from an advanced viewpoint": not only is it a beautifully illustrated
book, but it's also really pleasant to read in the sense that it revisits elementary plane
geometry and shows how it can be made so much more elegant by introducing moderately
sophisticated algebraic techniques.
Gillman & Jerison's Rings of Continuous Functions (1960), possibly to be accompanied by its
"sequel" of sorts, Rings of Quotients of Rings of Functions by Fine, Gillman and Lambek,
freely available online. This is a good example of a book which got me interested in a
subject that a priori I didn't care much about: but the authors do a wonderful job of showing
that the subject is natural and interesting (in its connections with algebra and general
topology), and they cover it so thoroughly, that I was captivated.
ap & Slovk's Parabolic Geometries (2009): this is a strange beast, because I don't really
care about the subject, but the chapters covering the background material (both in
differential geometry la Cartan and in Lie algebras) are so well written that they alone
warrant reading that book. The description of the classification of complex and real Lie
algebras, in particular, was better written than any other source I could find about this.
Lam's Introduction to Quadratic Forms over Fields (2005): not only is the book very well
written (as customary by this author) and the subject beautiful, it's also very difficult to find
anything else that covers this.
Sturmfels's Algorithms in Invariant Theory (2008): the treatment may not be as exhaustive
as I would have liked, but the subject is extremely beautiful and the exposition is extremely
clear.
Runner ups:
Simpson's Subsystems of Second-Order Arithmetic (2009)
Matsumura's Commutative Ring Theory (1989)
Besse's Einstein Manifolds (1987 / reprinted in 2008)
Koppelberg's Handbook of Boolean Algebras (Monk & Bonnet, eds.; 1989)
Wilson's The Finite Simple Groups (2009 / GTM 251)
Mines, Richman & Ruitenburg's Course in Constructive Algebra (1988)
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[] InfinityFlat 4 points 2 years ago
I've been meaning to read Gebert's book for some time. Thank you for the reminder! :)
I would add Logicomix and Feynman.

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Have you read Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman? The stories as told by Feynman himself.
not yet, but i do plan to

Oh, you're going to love it. After Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman, you should read
What Do You Care What Other People Think?
[] misplaced_my_pants 1 point 2 years ago
Genius by James Gleick is probably the best biography I've ever read and it happens to be
about Feynman.
[] shirlz 1 point 2 years ago
I really liked Chaos by Gleick and I've yet to read his latest one called The Information.
I've read both and they're really excellent.

His biography on Isaac Newton was really good, too.
[] milton_thomas 1 point 2 years ago
What do people see in Logicomix? I was pumped for a something that would live up to its
name, with the ambitious subtitle An Epic Search for Truth. Maybe it'll be meta and self-
referential, or use the medium of comics to convey complex ideas in an approachable way, or
weave logical conundrums into it's comic layout. Like if Martin Gardner wrote a comic book.
Nope, it's an unremarkable illustrated pseudo-history of Bertrand Russel and contemporaries

ruminating on the most superficial aspects of mathematical logic and the morality of war,
pointlessly framed by narrators in modern Greece. Couldn't find an original point it made. Big
disappointment.
[] r1p4c3 4 points 2 years ago
Another good book is The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets. It isn't heavy on math, but it
is a good overview of complex math topics and how they tie into to the Simpsons, which is written
by math PHDs.
I putting this on a separate comment because people seem to not like my post about Feynman's
Lecture.
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[] romwell 5 points 2 years ago
What Is Mathematics? by Courant and Robbins. This is probably the book that made me go into
math (and not, say, CS).
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[] Ellit 7 points 2 years ago
Julian Havil's "Gamma" is a excellent book with a great balance of history and maths (heavy on
the maths), with lots about Euler, his constant, and his other work. Lots of interesting stuff on the
Harmonic series too.
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[] paulcon 8 points 2 years ago
These three sent me to grad school.

ET Bell, Men of Mathematics http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Touchstone-Book-E-T-
Bell/dp/0671628186/
Davis and Hersh, The Mathematical Experience http://www.amazon.com/Mathematical-
Experience-Phillip-J-Davis/dp/0395929687/
Lakatos, Proofs and Refutations http://www.amazon.com/Proofs-Refutations-Logic-Mathematical-
Discovery/dp/0521290384/
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[] gaussjordanbaby 4 points 2 years ago
I used to tutor math a few times a week at a local jail. When I finished I donated some of my
old books to some of the more advanced inmates, including Men of Mathematics. Great book.
[] SoundOfOneHand 4 points 2 years ago
+1 for Lakatos, his book, while short, is filled with some wonderful excerpts from the history
of 19th century mathematics, and paints an exceedingly clear picture of how we came to the
modern concept of a mathematical proof. Not exactly an easy read but not technical either.
[] rarededilerore 9 points 2 years ago
The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan by Robert Kanigel
Mathematics: Its Content, Methods and Meaning by A. D. Aleksandrov et al.
Visual Complex Analysis by Tristan Needham
Geometry and the Imagination by David Hilbert and Stephan Cohn-Vossen

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Fermat's Last Theorem, by Simon Singh, it introduced me to mathematics by making me realise

how much more there is to it than we're taught to rote memorise at school
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[] Lhopital_rules 2 points 2 years ago
Same! This is a wonderful book.

[] Will_Power 4 points 2 years ago
I've read about half of Paul Lockhart's Measurement and find it to be very good so far. (He wrote
the popular article A Mathematician's Lament.)
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[] JWGhetto 4 points 2 years ago
Simon Singh: Codes.

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Is there an English translation of Codes? I can only seem to find German versions.
I really enjoyed The Code Book by Singh (it's basically a history of cryptography).
[] AssassinAzn 5 points 2 years ago
Gdel's Proof by Nagel. While introductory and simply-written, it tackles the proof of Gdel's
incompleteness theorems (somewhat?) rigorously. It is easy to understand, and it really gave me
an insight into what higher math is like and a result that changed the math world.
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[] InfanticideAquifer Mathematical Physics 4 points 2 years ago
Differential Topology, by Guillemin and Pollack.

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[] selkam 3 points 2 years ago
The Equation That Couldn't be Solved by Mario Livio is pretty good. While it gives a decent
explanation of group theory, it also gives the story behind its 'discovery'. Two mathematicians
living almost simultaneously, making the same discoveries without ever interacting with each
other, if that isn't a mathematic love story I don't know what is!
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[] rhlewis Algebra 4 points 2 years ago
Best? Can't say. The most influential in my career was Knuth vol. 2.
(The Art of Computer Programming volume 2)
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[] adavey29 9 points 2 years ago
Not really a math book, but reading Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon while taking calculus 2 is
the whole reason I became a math major.
As far as texts go, James Demmel's Applied Numerical Linear Algebra, essentially got me through
an entire year of undergrad applied math sequence with its great pseudocode implementations of
everything.
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[] davidmanheim 7 points 2 years ago
Bizarrely, i will go with the graduate texts in mathematics "advanced linear algebra."
I took linear algebra at Hebrew university as an undergrad, and the class didn't have a textbook.
This was the best book i found that covered the material in a similar way, and it exposed me to
what real math is like for the first time.
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[] deshe Model Theory 2 points 2 years ago
Are you still attending HUJI?

No - it was for one year, then i decided a degree in the USA where i spoke the language
decently made more sense.
[] PlutoniumFire Undergraduate 2 points 2 years ago
What's HUJ like? I've heard the math department is excellent.

It's amazing, very rigorous, and much more intense than what friends at good
schools here did in undergrad. That said, there is no liberal arts education at all,
which is how they do so much. I think that is a failing in the general model used in
some European and Israeli schools.
[] Auaurora 3 points 2 years ago*
Mathematics can be Fun by Yakov Perelman.

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[] borderwulf 3 points 2 years ago
Distributions, Fourier Transforms and Some of Their Applications by Thomas Schucker

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[] Danilo_Mello Mathematical Physics 3 points 2 years ago
I loved the The man who counted. A Brazilian teacher and writer used a pen name Malba Tahan.
It tells a story of two man who travels to Baghdad while solving lots of math problems in a very
playful way. I strongly recommend it to kids.
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Folland's Real Anaylsis. Shit gets serious in the first few pages with the proof of a non-measurable
set (Vitale set) and it doesn't let up. But man I remember reading the first sections of the first
chapter over and over again thinking "This is so awesome!"
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[] fridofrido 3 points 2 years ago
oh, i have a standard answer for that question: Shafarevich: Basic Notions of Algebra
Milnor's Characteristic classes was also pretty nice.
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[] Unenjoyed 3 points 2 years ago
Partial Diffential Equations by V.P. Mikhailov and translated by P.C. Sindha Cand.
The TOC reads like a survey of known PDEs and their solutions as of the 70's. The rest of the book
reads like the human story at the edge of mathematics knowledge. What a cast of characters...
It also opened my eyes to the sub culture of sophisticated amateur mathematicians in Russia.
Apparently, it's a thing.
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[] MichaelNevermore 3 points 2 years ago
Not sure if it counts, but mine would be "Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions" by Edwin
Abbott Abbott.
Wiki link
The movie adaptation.
I suppose it's more of a political satire than a book about math, but it's close enough.
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[] skecr8r 3 points 2 years ago
Shiryaev's Probability. Taught me the classical Russian way of teaching math, combined with
beautiful proofs and excellent explanations.
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[] SirDucky 3 points 2 years ago
God Created the Integers. It has nothing to do with religion, it's just a reference to the quote by
Kroenecker that "God created the integers. All the rest is the work of man."
It's a fantastic collection of primary sources going back to Euclid of what the editor (Stephen
Hawking) deems the great breakthroughs of mathematics. The selection is superb, and each
chapter includes a quick biography of the mathematician.
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[] limit2012 3 points 2 years ago
The Calculus Gallery - Masterpieces from Newton to Lebesgue by William Dunham it's like having
the world's best math teacher lead you thru all the jaw-dropping amazing parts of the history of
calculus; how at each stage someone figured out some bizarre counter-example which caused the
next person to push calculus along further. With understandable equations!
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[] YourPureSexcellence 3 points 2 years ago
Stewart Calculus....... AAAAANNNNDD I'm just kidding. As far as math books, I have never read
one through completely. Well, Godel Escher Bach, if it counts showing me Godel's Incompleteness
theorem, which is the booomb btw. That's more of a philosophy book, however.
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[] [deleted] 2 years ago
[deleted]
Stewart seems to be the popular undergrad calc text, but Salas, Etgen, and Hille is much
better.
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[] Minossama 5 points 2 years ago
Complete lack of mathematical rigour, great for engineers who want to mindlessly compute
derivatives.
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[deleted]
[] Minossama 2 points 2 years ago
Yes, but if you want to pursue mathematics it is a poor choice, there are far better
introductory books available. It really is great for non-math majors who have a
calculus requirement for their major.
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It's does what it sets out to do, but it's not something you look back on fondly or
with much respect.
Compare it to something like Spivak or Apostol.
Really you don't even need something like Stewart nowadays, when you could just
pick up the same material for free from sites like MIT OCW Scholar or Coursera.
The same can't be said for books like Spivak.
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[deleted]
I think Stewart had some proofs, but not in the exercises.

I don't think any lecturer who would choose to use Stewart would really
care about proofs anyway. There are more appropriate texts for a course
with a focus on proofs.
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[deleted]
[] misplaced_my_pants 2 points 2 years ago
If you ever get around to finding out what book it is, I'd be
interested in knowing.
(More out of idle curiosity than anything.)
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[deleted]
continue this thread

[] YourPureSexcellence 2 points 2 years ago
Haha, it was a good book. I'm just poking at it.

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[] tonsofpcs 3 points 2 years ago
"The Giant Golden Book of Mathematics" - Irving Adler (no, that's not mine for sale) (Also available
from Open Library)
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[] rhlewis Algebra 2 points 2 years ago
"The New Mathematics" by the same author is also excellent, addressed to a talented junior or
senior in high school.
[] jennyroll 3 points 2 years ago
Fermet's Enigma
It reaffirmed my theory that 26 is my favorite #.
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[] Breegul 5 points 2 years ago
Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh is what got me interested in Maths.

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I'm not a mathematician but Strogatz's Nonlinear dynamics and chaos. Some informal humor,
tons of insight, and relaxed language make it a great read.
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[] LewdLousLoo 3 points 2 years ago
I'll just go ahead and second this. There is literally an entire section of a chapter devoted to
phase plane analysis of mutual attraction between two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, based on
coupled linear systems of differential equations describing their feelings wrt each other.
If that didn't make sense to you, it's better than it sounds. If that did make sense to you, it's
better than it sounds.
[] 1percentof1 7 points 2 years ago
Div Grad Curl and all that..

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[] thedboy 4 points 2 years ago
Does The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-time qualify?

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Of course! If it had a positive effect on you, then it does. What part of the book appealed to
you?
[] thedboy 3 points 2 years ago
Not much as a math book, I just liked the novel, and it has some strong math themes. I
also like how it geeks out over Sherlock Holmes, which I really like as well.
[] fasnoosh 3 points 2 years ago
I loved the kid's city navigation algorithm, and the accompanying diagram
[] SalamanderSylph 2 points 2 years ago
Honestly, the Murderous Maths books I read when I was a young kid. They made maths fun for
the first time.
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Have you read it recently?

[] SalamanderSylph 2 points 2 years ago
Nah, there wouldn't be much worth in it. They are the maths equivalent of Horrible Science
or Horrible History and are aimed at children.
I still think they are extremely well written though.
[] lolium 2 points 2 years ago
the book that made me choose to pursue math

The Prisoner's Dilemma by William Poundstone! While filled with as many anecdotes as
mathematical language, it made me excited about math and logic problems. Lots of great stories
of great mathematicians and a good introduction to Game Theory as well.
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Fermats last theorem by simon singh

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[] nanonan 2 points 2 years ago
The Fractal Geometry of Nature would be my favourite, mainly due to the included code that let
my teenage self explore further than the pages.
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[] legogirl 2 points 2 years ago
Lewis Carroll in Numberland

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0393304523?pc_redir=1408599399&robot_redir=1
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[] hbarover2 2 points 2 years ago
This might sound kind of lame. I really enjoyed the structure behind Friedberg, Insel & Spence's
Linear Algebra. It was written very axiomatically and at the right level when I started learning
Linear Algebra. Everything had a place, where the position of its place made sense, and was easy
to find. Also had a good index. I think it was the one mathematics textbook in undergraduate I
found to be easily readable to learn and use as a resource. Especially in comparison to other
textbooks I've used, like Frayleigh's A First Course in Abstract Algebra, where I think I learned
about cyclic groups in 3 different places. Before university I remember reading Isaac Asimov's On
Numbers, which got me pretty excited about mathematics.
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[] Artemis2 2 points 2 years ago
Same for Alex's Adventure in Number land! Very good read, it got me interested a lot in math!
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[] duriel 2 points 2 years ago
The Calculus: A Genetic Approach by Otto Toeplitz. Describes the reasons for the questions
answered by calculus better than any book I have ever read.
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[] 99_44_100percentpure Analysis 2 points 2 years ago
0: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

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[] unlikely_ending 2 points 2 years ago
This one. Written to be understood.

http://www.amazon.com/A-Students-Guide-Lagrangians-Hamiltonians/dp/1107617529
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[] GandalfTheWit 2 points 2 years ago
Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh. Not especially technical at any points, it's more of a
'history of maths' book, but it was the book which really got me interested in the whole concept of
proof and the interconnectivity between different areas of maths, and it was the first place where
I encountered mathematical research (I was 15 or 16 when I read it, which was before I realised
that mathematical research was a thing which still happened).
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[] blank964 2 points 2 years ago
Theory of Linear Operators in Hilbert Space - N. I. Akhiezer, I. M. Glazman

I'm a statistical geneticist, so this book was critical for a deep understanding of what we do.
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[] electronp 1 point 2 years ago
also try: Kolmogorov and fomin

[] mhd-hbd Theory of Computing 2 points 2 years ago*
A senior high-school level introduction to mathematics from the 1960's.

I got my hands on it during my gap year between high school and university.
It started out with logic and sets; which I later encountered in my Introduction to Discrete
Mathematics course.
I felt cheated. Stuff this good, presented to high schoolers of three decades ago. And all I got was
shoddy real-valued algebra and calculus.
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[] dza76wutang Applied Math 2 points 2 years ago
Innumeracy and The Theory that Would Not Die (re: Bayes' Rule)
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[] KelloggsCrispix 2 points 2 years ago
Measurement by Paul Lockhart.

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[] noncommutative_ass 2 points 2 years ago
Functional analysis kresyzig

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[] PurelyApplied Grad School Panelist 2 points 2 years ago
It's more philosophy by way of mathematical thinking, but I love James P. Case's Finite and
Infinite Games. You can find a .pdf here.
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[] FrackinMandelBro 2 points 2 years ago
I see I'm late to this excellent thread, but I can't help but to share. The summer after my
freshman year as a math major, I read "Bridges to Infinity: The Human Side of Mathematics" by
Michael Guillen. It made me see the big picture of math and that it's not just a tool for crunching
numbers but something much more mysterious and fascinating than that. The idea of infinity is
still absolutely amazing to me!
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The Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field by Hadamard. It's a short (~150 pages)
text that explores: intuition, creativity, the inception/invention of ideas, how we communicate
ideas, and how the conscious and unconscious parts of our mind work to solve problems.
If you want to learn more about how your mind works (and honestly, what mathematician isn't at
least slightly self-absorbed?) you'll likely enjoy this book.
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[] Lhopital_rules 2 points 2 years ago
Number Theory: A Lively Introduction with Proofs, Applications and Stories by Pommersheim,
Marks and Flapan. It's just what it sounds like and it was a joy to read.
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[] tantric_pogo 2 points 2 years ago
Kepler's Conjecture: How Some of the Greatest Minds in History Helped Solve One of the Oldest
Math Problems in the World and Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea are riveting histories.
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[] herky_the_jet 2 points 2 years ago
More aimed at a casual science and mathematics reader, but Donal O'Shea's The Poincare
Conjecture: In Search of the Shape of the Universe, Sylvia Nasar's A Beautiful Mind, and Bill
Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything are three personal favorites of mine because they
all provide interesting windows into the lives of well known mathematicians.
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[] DeathAndReturnOfBMG 2 points 2 years ago
Bott and Tu, Milnor's Morse Theory

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[] BrotherSeamus 2 points 2 years ago
How to Lie with Statistics - Darrell Huff, 1954

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[] massive_muqran 2 points 2 years ago*
This is a bit odd, but for me it was "Handbook of Analysis and Its Foundations", by Eric Schechter.
The book attempts to construct modern analysis from the ground up, starting from basic set
theory, bringing in algebra and topology and working its way up to topological vector spaces, and
calculus on these spaces.
The book contains very little in the way of proofs (you're given ample references to other works
for that), but still provides a clear and meticulous exposition of the underpinnings of modern
analysis.
What I like most about this book is that it didn't shy away from the abstract aspects of analysis.
Topics such as filter convergence, ultra-filters, Cauchy spaces are treated with impressive clarity,
without them being treated as merely intellectual curiosities.

For me, this book encompasses what I love about mathematics: the way seemingly independent
fields come together in completely unexpected ways to provide extremely deep results.
Runners up:
1) Calculus on Manifolds, by Michael Spivak
2) An epsilon of room: volume I, by Terrence Tao,
3) Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays, by Elwyn Berlekamp, John Conway, and Richard
Guy.
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[] viking_ Logic 2 points 2 years ago
Not sure what it's called, but I used to have a kid's book on combinatoric problems.
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[] DerWasserspeier 2 points 2 years ago
The Math Instinct: Why You're a Mathematical Genius (along with lobsters, birds, cats, and dogs)
by Kevin Devlin. Talks about how animals do the mathematical things they do like how birds
migrate and how bees construct their hives.
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[] mebidi 1 point 2 years ago
Definitely "Math Girls" by Hiroshi Yuki. Math isn't hard...love is.

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[] [deleted] 1 point 2 years ago
Atiyah-MacDonald, Introduction to Commutative Algebra

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7/10/2017 Best math book you've ever read?

comments Want to join? Log in or sign up in seconds. | English

Best math book you've ever read? (self.math)

This could be any math book. A book that after

228 comments share

top 200 comments show all 228

"Algebra" by Mac Lane and Birkhoff really stood out to

[] mathdestruction 7 points 2 years ago

appreciate the motivation and exposure to category Welcome to /r/math.

permalink embed If you're asking for help learning/understanding

I read that book for a paper. Definitely a lot easier [; e^{\pi i} + 1 = 0 ;]

permalink embed Other Subreddits

conjecture. Before I read it I new I just loved math, /r/sagemath

[] [deleted] 6 points 2 years ago

I finished reading it about 5 days ago and it was an

[] fleshhook 2 points 2 years ago

I read it about 4 months ago. Mind-blowing. I think

Not a math book.

[] Globalscree 2 points 2 years ago

load more comments (1 reply)

[] brewspoon 37 points 2 years ago

[] wes_reddit 5 points 2 years ago

Yup. Takes a "mystical" topic and clarifies everything completely.

[] [deleted] 48 points 2 years ago

[] [deleted] 18 points 2 years ago

[] Tcdunbar729 9 points 2 years ago

[] amdpox Geometric Analysis 6 points 2 years ago

[] bearddeliciousbi 3 points 2 years ago

I just started reading it and it's superb!

[] disallow 5 points 2 years ago

Abbott's Understanding Analysis

[] [deleted] 5 points 2 years ago

Understanding Understanding Analysis

[] GlacialAcetate 70 points 2 years ago

[] grammarxcore Combinatorics 7 points 2 years ago

Ian Stewart's Flatterland was my favorite sequel to that.

[] bigyug13 5 points 2 years ago

[] PurelyApplied Grad School Panelist 3 points 2 years ago

[] GlacialAcetate 2 points 2 years ago

[] TheSandreckoner 55 points 2 years ago

[] [deleted] 22 points 2 years ago

The part where he talks about reductio ad absurdum is so beautiful!

[] TheSandreckoner 18 points 2 years ago

It is isn't it? My favorite passage is this one:

[] thabonch 3 points 2 years ago

[] meeblebus 6 points 2 years ago

[] TheSandreckoner 2 points 2 years ago

[] shirlz 6 points 2 years ago

[] goiken 8 points 2 years ago

I took the advice and it kind of sucked.

[] johnnyrottenjr 10 points 2 years ago

[] goiken 5 points 2 years ago

[] TheSandreckoner 8 points 2 years ago

[] [deleted] 3 points 2 years ago

[] TheSandreckoner 2 points 2 years ago

Thanks! I'm glad I could make you happy.

[] raunaqrox 2 points 2 years ago

thanks for that, gonna go read it!!

[] TheSandreckoner 4 points 2 years ago

[] raunaqrox 3 points 2 years ago

[] Mitchhell 15 points 2 years ago

[] andthatswhyyoudont 13 points 2 years ago

Div, grad, curl and all that.