Ask HN: What books would you give a 16-year old interested in Math?

Posted by mathdad on Tuesday December 27, 2011 @04:16PM
from the ask-hn dept.

My son is going to turn 16 in a week. He is a junior (11th grade) in a US High School, and loves math. He participates actively in various math competitions (AMC, ARML and the like), in which he does reasonably well if not at the top. He is taking Calculus now and would like to pursue math major in college.

I want to give him three (or more) math-related books as his birthday present, books that would inspire him, expand his mathematical thinking and introduce him to new concepts. I am also looking for books that won't exceed his current aptitude level too much, lest he might be turned off completely from reading the book. I realize it would be difficult to judge this without knowing him closely, but I hope the information I gave is adequate.

I am not new to HN, but I created a new account specifically to post this question, as I my son is also a HN reader and I don't want tip him off.

I have found a MathOverflow thread (http://mathoverflow.net/questions/8609/favorite-popular-math-book) which gives me some ideas, but I am looking for the collective wisdom of HN readers. Please bear with my indulgence.

( 7 comments | 10 points | on HN )

Re:Ask HN: What books would you give a 16-year old intereste... by tokenadult on Tuesday December 27, 2011 @04:43PM (#3397562)

My son (an occasional Hacker News participant) was in a similar position a few years ago. I'll list here a variety of books that should be helpful, some of which were recommended to him by summer program instructors, and others of which were recommended to me by parents of other children with similar activity backgrounds.

For access to a lot of mathematical concepts at a reasonable reading level, not at all expensive, I recommend Concepts of Modern Mathematics by Ian Stewart.

http://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Modern-Mathematics-Ian-Stewar...

Ian Stewart is a mathematician who loves to write popular writings on mathematics, and you can hardly go wrong with anything he has written.

From Zero to Infinity: What Makes Numbers Interesting by Constance Reid

http://www.amazon.com/Zero-Infinity-Makes-Numbers-Interestin...

is very accessible and covers a number of interesting topics.

The Art of Problem Solving by Richard Rusczyk and Sandor Lehoczky

http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Store/viewitem.php?item=p...

is a straight-up contest preparation book, in two volumes, that your son may find interesting. Volume 2 is for high school level contests.

For an interesting (in places laugh-out-loud funny) book about the place of mathematics in modern life and how mathematicians think about mathematics, I recommend The Pleasures of Counting by T. W. Körner.

http://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Counting-T-246-rner/dp/05215...

This one is more challenging as to reading level and as to mathematical level than the recommendations above, but well worth having around the house.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What books would you give a 16-year old intereste... by khay on Tuesday December 27, 2011 @08:07PM (#3398173)

How about an e-reader and an account at library.nu, have him check out http://www.khanacademy.org/ and http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm too.

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Re:Ask HN: What books would you give a 16-year old intereste... by MPSimmons on Monday January 02, 2012 @11:06PM (#3418580)

Godel, Escher, and Bach

http://www.amazon.com/G%C3%B6del-Escher-Bach-Eternal-Golden/...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What books would you give a 16-year old intereste... by rdouble on Tuesday December 27, 2011 @04:22PM (#3397483)

When I was 16 I liked the Clifford Pickover books, such as Mazes for the Mind. They seem ridiculous now, but at the time I thought they were pretty cool and inspired me to major in math.

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Re:Ask HN: What books would you give a 16-year old intereste... by coproduct on Tuesday December 27, 2011 @05:16PM (#3397669)

GEB, Who Is Fourier?, The Little Schemer

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Re:Ask HN: What books would you give a 16-year old intereste... by makecheck on Tuesday December 27, 2011 @04:18PM (#3397467)

A book on linear algebra.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What books would you give a 16-year old intereste... by Mz on Tuesday December 27, 2011 @07:25PM (#3398060)

"A tour of the calculus"

http://www.amazon.com/Tour-Calculus-David-Berlinski/dp/06797...

[ Parent | on HN ]