Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician

Re:Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician by standupmaths on Saturday October 06, 2018 @07:41AM (#18154627)

For a modern popular math book I would recommend The Man Who Loved Only Numbers (by Paul Hoffman) about the life Paul Erdős. Is a great intro to the life of a working mathematician and a bit about proof.

The classic text is How To Solve It (by Georg Pólya). A bit antiquated but still good.

Beyond that: find an introductory text book to a subject and start trying the worked examples!

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Re:Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician by maroonblazer on Saturday October 06, 2018 @10:01AM (#18155153)

You'd recommend Polya over "How to Prove It" by Velleman? Polya's seems more about general problem-solving techniques, versus proofs.

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Re:Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician by throwaway8521 on Saturday October 06, 2018 @08:23AM (#18154780)

Thanks for the recommendations!

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Re:Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician by fjsolwmv on Saturday October 06, 2018 @08:13AM (#18154735)

Isn't that a bit misleading because Erdos was a famously unusual mathematician personality/lifestyle? I think focusing on Erdos as an intro fetishizes mathematicians/mathematics.

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Re:Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician by standupmaths on Saturday October 06, 2018 @09:07AM (#18154937)

Good point but the book is very clear about how unusual Erdős was and talks about the lives of more normal mathematicians he worked with.

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