Tagged Questions
43
votes
17answers
1k views
The Best of Dover Books (a.k.a the best cheap mathematical texts)
Perhaps this is a repeat question -- let me know if it is -- but I am interested in knowing the best of Dover mathematics books. The reason is because Dover books are very cheap and most other books ...
5
votes
4answers
115 views
High-School Level Introduction to Dynamical Systems
In one month I'll be giving a talk to motivated high schools students on a topic of my choice from dynamical systems and/or ergodic theory.
I'm having trouble coming up with a topic compelling enough ...
266
votes
115answers
13k views
What was the first bit of mathematics that made you realize that math is beautiful? (For children's book)
I'm a children's book writer and illustrator, and I want to to create a book for young readers that exposes the beauty of Mathematics. I recently read Paul Lockhart's essay "The Mathematician's ...
7
votes
5answers
436 views
Mathematics, Philosophy and writing.
Do you know of any famous mathematicians who were also philosophers? I have heard of Descartes, Plato and Leibniz. Are there other good examples, especially more modern examples?
Also welcome are ...
12
votes
7answers
679 views
Films about math: a question about math education and motivation for learning math
I'm interested in movies about or related with mathematics or physics, I mean not documentaries which I also consider movies, but artistic or mainstream films about math. Now I have the following in ...
7
votes
11answers
528 views
Good examples for mathemathical problems/statements that are easely solvable/provable in one theory and hard to solve/prove in another
Let $P$ be a mathematical statement or a mathematical problem. I am looking for a couple of nice examples for $P$ that satisfy the following criteria:
Given two (or more) mathematical points of view ...
22
votes
13answers
2k views
Research done by high-school students
I'm giving a talk soon to a group of high-school students about open problems in mathematics that high-school students could understand. To inspire them, I would like to give them examples of ...
12
votes
5answers
467 views
Can the order of learning be changed?
I have been advised by many people to learn from scratch. So I decided to learn it. But I have the following questions in my mind.
Can we skip "the Trinity" and learn something else directly? ("the ...
16
votes
5answers
443 views
Math department space design ideas
I'm looking for resources on design space for academic departments, particularly, We've been asked to provide ideas on designing a "dream math department". I'd like to gather some ideas for doing ...
3
votes
1answer
134 views
A Formal and Precise treatment of Simplification?
I am looking to gain a deeper understanding of, and increase my own skill in "Mathematical Simplification". But I've been finding the concept overly vague and haven't been able to find any good ...
22
votes
4answers
1k views
Mind maps of Advanced Mathematics and various branches thereof
I would like to get a list of mind maps of advanced mathematics topics. As an example, I have posted one below. I would be happy if you post such other maps. Making one and posting it here is also ...
4
votes
1answer
181 views
Request for “Nice” Papers in i) Differential Geometry ii)Analysis iii)Topology, to Go Over
Everyone:
I am a little frustrated with the progress in my bottom-up learning process, and I think I might get better results by doing some more top-down, i.e., by reading and trying to make sense of ...
7
votes
2answers
205 views
Enlightening misunderstandings of test questions
What enlightening misunderstandings of test questions have you encountered? Of course, there are jokes about this, such as literal (graphic) “expansion” of the power of a binomial, but I am asking ...
38
votes
11answers
1k views
Examples of results failing in higher dimensions
A number of economists do not appreciate rigor in their usage of mathematics and I find it very discouraging.
One of the examples of rigor-lacking approach are proofs done via graphs or pictures ...
5
votes
7answers
3k views
practical uses of matrix multiplication
The use of matrix multiplication is usually given with graphics initially (scalings, translations, rotations, etc). Then there are more in-depth examples such as counting the number of walks between ...
5
votes
1answer
268 views
Links to interesting metaphors for problematic aspects of mathematics education
Can you give references to articles/books that contain interesting metaphors for what is wrong in mathematics education from the point of view of mathematicians?
An example for what I am searching:
...
34
votes
6answers
983 views
Need a result of Euler that is simple enough for a child to understand
Talking to my 8 yr old about "the greatest mathematician of all time", I said it was probably Gauss in my opinion, but that Gauss was not very kind to his kids (for example, forbidding them to go into ...
6
votes
5answers
593 views
discrete math book suitable for younger person?
When I took discrete math as an adult I realized that this was a subject I would have enjoyed and done well at much earlier in life, even in my early teens.
Does anyone know if there are good books, ...
9
votes
5answers
804 views
Elementary Papers at ArXiv
Inspired by this question, at MO i am asking this question.
Can anyone list some elementary articles at ArXiv which can be understood by High-School/Undergrad Students. I am asking this because, i ...
12
votes
3answers
681 views
Guidelines for learning about Ramanujan's work?
It is well known that one of the first books Ramanujan studied was "Synopsis of Pure and Applied Mathematics" and that it shaped the way Ramanujan thought and wrote about mathematics. Being interested ...
7
votes
5answers
959 views
Common misconceptions about math
YARFMO (Yet another reposting from Mathoverflow) ;-)
The more you know about math the more you find conceptions previously thought correct to be false:
1.) math is not as exact as many believe - in ...
1
vote
4answers
307 views
Which discussion board is good for homework questions?
I'm a CompSci university student and i want some help for my math questions.
Therefore i am looking for a good discussion board for math homework questions.
I don't know any (good), because I come ...
6
votes
10answers
1k views
False beliefs in mathematics (conceptual errors made despite, or because of, mathematical education)
Over on mathoverflow, there is a popular CW question titled: Examples of common false beliefs in mathematics. I thought it would be nice to have a parallel question on this site to serve as a ...
8
votes
8answers
382 views
Elevator pitch for a (sub)field of maths?
When I first saw the title of this question, I forgot for a moment I was on meta, and thought it was asking about quick, catchy, attractive, informative one-or-two-liner summaries of various fields of ...
9
votes
7answers
1k views
What should the high school math curriculum consist of?
"Life is open book."
With the advent of widely accessible, inexpensive (or even free) computational tools and Computer Algebra Systems (TI-89, Wolfram|Alpha, etc.), much of what traditionally ...
10
votes
6answers
2k views
Best intuitive metaphors for math concepts (of any level)
Frequently, we introduce a new concept with a formal definition, then immediately say "Intuitively, what this means is..." What are the absolute best metaphors you've seen (for concepts of any level)?
...
69
votes
18answers
2k views
Good Physical Demonstrations of Abstract Mathematics
I like to use physical demonstrations when teaching mathematics (putting physics in the service of mathematics, for once, instead of the other way around), and it'd be great to get some more ideas to ...
