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Calculus Made Easy (1914) [pdf]

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Re: Calculus Made Easy (1914) [pdf]

#121

Post by Accacin »

djhworld wrote: post #119

I'm embarassed somewhat to say this, but over the past few weeks I've been taking the courses on Khan Academy on mathematics. I'm nearly 30. and I'm not talking about brushing up on my linear algebra, that comes later, I'm talking high school level mathematics, stuff that I've largely forgotten or didn't "get" first time round. I've seen these "machine learning for hackers!" articles who try to dish out a bit of math…

I don't think anyone can ever fault you for taking the initiative and learning it in your own time.

I feel the same way though, I've been looking back through some basic algebra on Khan Academy too because I feel maths is very much my weak point.

Re: Calculus Made Easy (1914) [pdf]

#122

Post by apo »

After scanning for a few minutes, I was amazed at how readable the book is given its age and my experience with books of similar age.

The book also does appear to go out of its way to keep language simple. For example:

We call the ratio dx/dy "the differential coefficient of y with respect to x." It is a solemn scientific name for this very simple thing. But we are not going to be frightened by solemn names, when the things themselves are so easy. Instead of being frieghtened we will simply pronounce a brief curse on the stupidity of giving long crack-jaw names; and, having relieved our minds, will go on to the simple thing itself, namely the ration dx/dy.

Re: Calculus Made Easy (1914) [pdf]

#123

Post by zdean »

kjhughes wrote: post #38
zdean wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you happen to know of any websites, video series, books, etc that would be in the same vein as these 2 sources but geared towards very young students (elementary/middle school math)? ...so that they can understand it conceptually from a young start. EDIT: I'm working through Khan Academy with one of my kids...would like to find other resources as well.

Hmm, how about a technique rather than a resource... Look for opportunities to expand what they're doing in school. For example, after my kids had covered place values in school, I taught them binary. Their knowledge of base 10 is so much more robust when they learn base 2 as well. Point is, I bet you already know plenty to be that ideal resource you seek for them. Good for you for wanting to start early.

Thanks for that affirmation. I actually taught them binary counting too over a weekend a few months back...I was amazed how quickly they were able to pick up on it (3rd and 5th graders). With limited time/energy, I was hoping to find some great resources to add to what I can provide them individually.

Re: Calculus Made Easy (1914) [pdf]

#124

Post by amai »

c517402 wrote: post #50

IIRC this the book Richard Feynman said he checked out of the library and learned calculus from. Also, Feynman made comments similar to those in the Prologue.

I thought the book Feynman mentioned was Woods: Advanced Calculus: https://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/17dq5l/is_there_a_mod...

Re: Calculus Made Easy (1914) [pdf]

#125

Post by coldpie »

userbinator wrote: post #30
tzs wrote: post #6

That PDF is just a bunch of scanned images of the book. It's large and cumbersome in many readers. There is a much better PDF at Project Gutenberg [1]. The Gutenberg PDF is only 1.9 MB, compared to 12 MB for the scanned image PDF. The Gutenberg page for this book [2] also has a link to the LaTeX source for the PDF. [1] http://www.gutenberg.org/files/33283/33283-pdf.pdf [2] http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33283

You say 1.9MB, the Gutenberg page says 1.8MB, and the download itself is only 1.18MB thanks to gzip. The main difference is that the Gutenberg PDF is a transcribed, cleaned-up version. As much as this probably makes me sound like an audiophile, I actually prefer the raw scans over what may essentially be a reprint. They show all the blemishes, unofficial additions, and other marks that make the book look more "real"…

If you want to go really old school with these kinds of ancillary notes, check out https://medievalbooks.nl/ especially for example:

https://medievalbooks.nl/2016/02/26/dirty-old-books/

https://medievalbooks.nl/2015/04/24/rare-medieval-name-tags/

https://medievalbooks.nl/2015/04/17/texting-in-medieval-time...

Re: Calculus Made Easy (1914) [pdf]

#126

Post by 40acres »

djhworld wrote: post #119

I'm embarassed somewhat to say this, but over the past few weeks I've been taking the courses on Khan Academy on mathematics. I'm nearly 30. and I'm not talking about brushing up on my linear algebra, that comes later, I'm talking high school level mathematics, stuff that I've largely forgotten or didn't "get" first time round. I've seen these "machine learning for hackers!" articles who try to dish out a bit of math…

I recently started a similar journey, starting with basic pre-algebra, let's just say its been a humbling experience.

Re: Calculus Made Easy (1914) [pdf]

#127

Post by mpl »

djhworld wrote: post #119

I'm embarassed somewhat to say this, but over the past few weeks I've been taking the courses on Khan Academy on mathematics. I'm nearly 30. and I'm not talking about brushing up on my linear algebra, that comes later, I'm talking high school level mathematics, stuff that I've largely forgotten or didn't "get" first time round. I've seen these "machine learning for hackers!" articles who try to dish out a bit of math…

I did something similar. I returned to college in my late-20s to get my degree, and started at trig and worked my way back up. It wasn't strictly necessary, but I'm glad I did it.

Good luck with your studies, and never feel embarrassed to better yourself!

Re: Calculus Made Easy (1914) [pdf]

#128

Post by purplethinking »

djhworld wrote: post #119

I'm embarassed somewhat to say this, but over the past few weeks I've been taking the courses on Khan Academy on mathematics. I'm nearly 30. and I'm not talking about brushing up on my linear algebra, that comes later, I'm talking high school level mathematics, stuff that I've largely forgotten or didn't "get" first time round. I've seen these "machine learning for hackers!" articles who try to dish out a bit of math…

I have a master's degree in CS, and I feel the need to do this too. Use it or lose it. Problem is you only use bits and pieces of what you learned here and there, not enough to remember college level math.

Re: Calculus Made Easy (1914) [pdf]

#129

Post by kerbalspacepro »

djhworld wrote: post #119

I'm embarassed somewhat to say this, but over the past few weeks I've been taking the courses on Khan Academy on mathematics. I'm nearly 30. and I'm not talking about brushing up on my linear algebra, that comes later, I'm talking high school level mathematics, stuff that I've largely forgotten or didn't "get" first time round. I've seen these "machine learning for hackers!" articles who try to dish out a bit of math…

I've been doing this as a "wait for queries to run" kind of brain game. I don't think it's embarrassing. I don't think we emphasize "back to basics" in enough areas of life, except when we hit a wall after failing to achieve what we meant to and more often than not B2B solves the problem.

Re: Calculus Made Easy (1914) [pdf]

#130

Post by andai »

Accacin wrote: post #121
djhworld wrote: post #119

I'm embarassed somewhat to say this, but over the past few weeks I've been taking the courses on Khan Academy on mathematics. I'm nearly 30. and I'm not talking about brushing up on my linear algebra, that comes later, I'm talking high school level mathematics, stuff that I've largely forgotten or didn't "get" first time round. I've seen these "machine learning for hackers!" articles who try to dish out a bit of math…

I don't think anyone can ever fault you for taking the initiative and learning it in your own time. I feel the same way though, I've been looking back through some basic algebra on Khan Academy too because I feel maths is very much my weak point.

My mom always told me I'd need better Math grades to become a programmer.

Since the 2nd program I ever wrote was a script to do my math homework for me, I laughed at her.

Then I failed to pass the first year of CS bachelor. Twice.

I am very glad to see this most excellent book here, and will add it to my collection.

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