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Re:Ask HN: Learning advanced math by mseebach on Sunday October 03, 2010 @02:56PM (#1753322)
I've had "The Princeton Companion to Mathematics" sitting in my Amazon wish list for quite a while now, more or less for this purpose - I think on a HN recommendation.

Any thoughts on this book?

Re:Ask HN: Learning advanced math by jey on Sunday October 03, 2010 @03:24PM (#1753400)
This is a great book to sit down and read a few articles from (at least if you're into reading encyclopedias ;)), but you aren't going to learn much "actual math" from it.
Re:Ask HN: Learning advanced math by hyperbovine on Sunday October 03, 2010 @05:46PM (#1753706)
Most research mathematicians don't have a clue what people outside of their field work on, so this is a great book if only because it lets to you talk to the guy down the hall :-) Use it to figure out what interests you mathematically, and then drill down to various subjects with more in-depth texts.
Re:Ask HN: Learning advanced math by sz on Sunday October 03, 2010 @05:07PM (#1753621)
I just got it, and it's huge. Bigger than most dictionaries.

The articles are great. It's a useful resource to look up something you hear a reference to but haven't seen before, or to get more cultural exposure around something you're studying in a narrow context. I recommend it, though you'll need another text for a thorough, linear introduction to a field.