Ask HN: Graduation Present for Aspiring Math Major? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Graduation Present for Aspiring Math Major?

#11

Post by amorphid » Thu, Jun 02, 2011, 6:24 AM UTC

A slide rule and an abacus.

Re: Ask HN: Graduation Present for Aspiring Math Major?

#12

Post by actionbrandon » Thu, Jun 02, 2011, 2:29 PM UTC

"Coolest" math book on my shelf (I'm a Math/CS Major) is "Street-Fighting Mathematics" by Sanjoy Mahajan. It's about "the art of educated guessing and opportunistic problem solving". The author used to teach these topics as a class at MIT.

Re: Ask HN: Graduation Present for Aspiring Math Major?

#13

Post by pasbesoin » Thu, Jun 02, 2011, 5:53 PM UTC

There's a recent text about the science of music. I gave it to my father, but didn't read it myself. (He's both very technical and has a strong background in music.)

He recently commented that he was surprised at how interesting he was finding it.

If I recall / learn from him the title, I'll follow up.

Re: Ask HN: Graduation Present for Aspiring Math Major?

#14

Post by tokenadult » Sat, Jun 04, 2011, 2:04 AM UTC

pasbesoin wrote: post #13

There's a recent text about the science of music. I gave it to my father, but didn't read it myself. (He's both very technical and has a strong background in music.) He recently commented that he was surprised at how interesting he was finding it. If I recall / learn from him the title, I'll follow up.

Are you thinking of A Geometry of Music: Harmony and Counterpoint in the Extended Common Practice? I learned about that book here on HN from another participant.

http://www.amazon.com/Geometry-Music-Counterpoint-Extended-P...

Re: Ask HN: Graduation Present for Aspiring Math Major?

#15

Post by pasbesoin » Sat, Jun 04, 2011, 1:36 PM UTC

tokenadult wrote: post #14

pasbesoin wrote: post #13

There's a recent text about the science of music. I gave it to my father, but didn't read it myself. (He's both very technical and has a strong background in music.) He recently commented that he was surprised at how interesting he was finding it. If I recall / learn from him the title, I'll follow up.

Are you thinking of A Geometry of Music: Harmony and Counterpoint in the Extended Common Practice? I learned about that book here on HN from another participant. http://www.amazon.com/Geometry-Music-Counterpoint-Extended-P...

I don't think that's the one I'm recalling, though that title is interesting.

I'll have to ask him. I'll probably speak with him this weekend.

P.S. I hope the OP will take a look at tokenadult's title. It might be a good choice.