I bought it with high hopes but ended up really disliking it. My main criticism is his decision to invent his own notation. For readers new to the subject, it's a great intro to the concepts, but afterwards they've got to learn the proper notation anyway. Why obfuscate it? For readers not new to the subject, the unfamiliar notation just gets in the way.

I've found the opposite to be the case, in my own experience – by first starting with brand new notation, and only later introducing the "standard" notation, he removes the absolute mystique which often surrounds existing notation, and frees you up to realize that a notation is just _a_ way of expressing an underlying idea.

He also does mention existing notation, and has a discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of various notation forms, e.g.: comparison of dM/dx vs ΔM/Δx vs M′. After reading it, I feel much more comfortable with the soup of new (and re-defined) notation one encounters when reading maths papers. With this presentation, notation becomes just a tool I know how to use, rather than some strange Math fiat delivered from on high.

How can you learn a pile of complicated mathematics but not be able to learn 5 minutes of notation definitions that were chosen for their usability over centuries?

Thank you for the recommendation. As an adult learning mathematics I'm half way through "Mathematics Rebooted" by Lara Alcock and I really like it so far. It's a good read to complement school books, video lectures and Khan Academy. Burn Math Class seems like a great candidate to be next on my math reading list.

I agree