What are some good books on number theory, combinatorics and probability for beginners - people who haven't studied calculus yet? There must be some really clear, *fun* books like this. But I don't know them! Someone needs them... now! Thanks. https://twitter.com/kid_wolfe/status/1186417111054184449 …
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Replying to @johncarlosbaez
I thought Graham, Knuth, and Patashnik's "Concrete Mathematics" was very good when I read (part of) it, and wished I'd come to it right when I'd started mathematics. Haven't looked at it in years.
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Replying to @michael_nielsen
I love it. But I think it'd be tough, or impossible, for students who don't know calculus. For example, one big theme is generalizing tricks from derivatives to differences, and from integrals to finite sums.
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Replying to @johncarlosbaez
Huh. I'd forgotten that. Another book which I loved, and spent hundreds of hours with, is Larson's "Problem Solving Through Problems". More than anything I learnt the basics of discrete math from that book.
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Replying to @michael_nielsen @johncarlosbaez
It's lots of Olympiad / Putnam-style questions, with lots of good advice interspersed on how to think about problem solving. (Never did math contests. But when I was 18 I decided I should learn how to do that kind of problem solving. Larson helped a lot, & it was a useful skill)
1 reply 2 retweets 4 likes
Weird random fact: I tried to buy it when I was 18 or so. Was nearly $200, IIRC, which was too much at the time. So I used a library copy. But last year, walking through the Mission in San Francisco, I found it in a pile of books on the sidewalk, being given away. So happy!
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Replying to @michael_nielsen @johncarlosbaez
The French edition is out of print, so my friend uses a scanned version. But he can give them a complete version...
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