I didnt really learn math until I had to use it in my work.
For example my thesis worked used a lot of complex analysis and wave equations. I had had those in Physic and math calss, but really didnt obtain full understanding until using it.
A Software Engineer’s Adventures in Learning Mathematics
91–100 of 227 posts
Re: A Software Engineer’s Adventures in Learning Mathematics
#92Awesome. Good for you. Keep at it. Keep a journal. Share with others what you learn. Learn from others when they share it.
I'd add a few of books to your list:
Graph Theory by W. T. Tufte: http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/9780521794...
On Numbers and Games by John H. Conway: http://www.amazon.com/On-Numbers-Games-John-Conway/dp/156881...
And for good re-introduction to geometry and it's practical application to computer graphics: http://www.amazon.com/Primer-Graphics-Development-Wordware-L...
I think maths is amazing. It's a useful tool to have in one's arsenal regardless of your profession or walk in life. It's also not the sole domain of the highly educated elite. Anyone can do it.
It's not important to be "correct" all of the time so much as it is to be curious and willing to learn -- and willing to share.
Keep at it! There's so many cool things you can do as you learn more!
Re: A Software Engineer’s Adventures in Learning Mathematics
#93This topic comes up every so often. I think my previous comment applies here [1]: I started a Math degree after 16 years of programming without any Math beyond high school (the highest being high school calculus). Most of my work as a software developer didn't require any "higher" Maths. Once I began studying math, including Modern Algebra, Analysis, Graph Theory, Category Theory, etc., I realized I understood many t…
I'm in a similar boat as you. I went up through Calculus in school and hated it. Around 5 years ago I developed a strong interest in learning relevant applied math and have been enjoying it since. Some things I'd add: 1) Math is fun! If you have the aptitude and disposition to enjoy writing software you'll love working out math problems. They're little nuggets of mental stimulation that you can work on with just some…
> 4) Calculus and Linear Algebra are the father and mother of applied math.
> You'll save yourself a ton of grief if you learn them first
Baby Rudin and Axler are used currently by Harvard Math 55 to teach those subjects. Rudin might not be very didactic (I would be happy to hear about alternatives), but Axler is a fantastic choice.
Re: A Software Engineer’s Adventures in Learning Mathematics
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
I own this book and I'll tell you it's not easy learning math from this book. Most of it is just very light overview. There are much better rigorous textbooks that are simpler and more complete. There are some great textbooks translated from Russian. Analysis by Kolmogorov, (rigorous) Linear Algebra by Shilov, Complex Analysis by Markushevich to name a few.
That's why I said it's good companion. The book covers too much to be thorough. Each chapter gives good introduction to the subject matter and ends with list of suggested reading. I always read the relevant parts from this book before going deeper. Not everyone is going to dwell into non-euclidean geometry, functional analysis and topology. Furthermore, I don't think typical self studying engineer in Hacker News want…
I agree with you, that book is great for giving an overview of the general areas of mathematics and for providing context before going deeper into an area. I've used it to get some background in the courses I'm taking classes on before the semester starts and have found that really helpful.
Re: A Software Engineer’s Adventures in Learning Mathematics
#95About 2 years ago, I had an intense urge to learn linear algebra, statistics and probability in depth for much the same reasons as the author - to improve my machine learning and computer vision skills. Really glad to see I'm not the only one. I don't have any recommendations for linear algebra, but for stats and probability (which I always found intimidating in the past), Allen Downey's "Think Stats" and "Think Baye…
For LA a great place to start is http://codingthematrix.com/
For programmers with less math experience it serves as a perfect transition with which to then go into more theoretical aspects of LA.
Re: A Software Engineer’s Adventures in Learning Mathematics
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
In some countries it's illegal to call yourself an engineer without having an engineering degree. The degree is "protected" by the government and can only be acquired from certified organizations (like universities).
Can't stress this enough- in Canada (Ontario specifically) it is a serious fine for anyone caught using the term without being certified by a professional organization.
This is a perfect example of why the term is protected by PEO. I used to think the PEO overreaching in its attempts to protect the term/designation, but I can see why they have taken issue with the term "Software Engineer" being genericized.
I applaud the effort to learn the topics of "statistics, probability, and linear algebra", but these would have been relatively fundamental courses in most software/computer/electrical engineering curricula that I've known about, and most definitely a prerequisite to calling oneself an engineer.
Re: A Software Engineer’s Adventures in Learning Mathematics
#97I always thought that being an Engineer assumes you have knowledge of mathematics. The way this word is being used in Software ist kind of strange. "I built a blog in php, I'm a Software Engineer" - this feels kind of awkward to me.
I'm employed as a Software Engineer now but my degree is in ECE. The engineering curriculum at my university (Rutgers) was extremely math intensive. I didn't take a whole lot of software classes but I'm glad I did take all that math. I think it's dishonest to call yourself a Software Engineer and not have an engineering degree. Semantics, but I earned the title.
>I think it's dishonest to call yourself a Software Engineer and not have an engineering degree.
Definitely semantics. For example, I have a BS/MS in applied math from a good engineering school university. I am a software engineer mainly working with ECEs, physics, and other math guys, who are all "software engineers".
I see where you're coming from about being a SW eng without knowing a lot of math - but there are other majors - math/physics/stats etc that will be very math heavy and not "engineering degrees".
Re: A Software Engineer’s Adventures in Learning Mathematics
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm in a similar boat as you. I went up through Calculus in school and hated it. Around 5 years ago I developed a strong interest in learning relevant applied math and have been enjoying it since. Some things I'd add: 1) Math is fun! If you have the aptitude and disposition to enjoy writing software you'll love working out math problems. They're little nuggets of mental stimulation that you can work on with just some…
> 4) Calculus and Linear Algebra are the father and mother of applied math. > You'll save yourself a ton of grief if you learn them first Baby Rudin and Axler are used currently by Harvard Math 55 to teach those subjects. Rudin might not be very didactic (I would be happy to hear about alternatives), but Axler is a fantastic choice.
If you liked Axler, you might check out Abbott's Understanding Analysis, also in the Springer UTM series. I think it covers somewhat less than Rudin (e.g. looking at baby Rudin's contents, I'm pretty sure Abbott doesn't touch Lebesgue integration) but it's a pretty great introductory analysis book IMO.
Re: A Software Engineer’s Adventures in Learning Mathematics
#99I've been doing project Euler problems and I realise it really really helps to know Number Theory to get to an optimal solution for problems. Can anyone recommend good books on the subject? While learning via problem-solving is fun, most of the time it boils down to me sitting with a naive, brute-force solution that's too slow and then google how to make it fast, discover a new number theory axiom/tool and then changing the algorithm. There's gotta be a better way to learn...
Re: A Software Engineer’s Adventures in Learning Mathematics
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Usually good books travel from English speaking world to other languages as translations Yeah, no. Usually good books get translated, period. From Homer and the Bible to Pascal, Leibiz, Dostoyevsky, Godel and Einstein, good books fly the other way around all the time.
>Yeah, no. Usually good books get translated, period. Great books certainly get translated in every direction. But for merely good books, I wouldn't be surprised if readers outside the US consumed more books translated from English than readers in the US consume books translated from other languages.
Quite americano-centric, no ?
Considering that the average reader reads more in Europe than in the US and that there is a very dynamic domestic industry in many of these countries, I would say the opposite.
And I didn't even take India and China into account...
source: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nop-world-culture-sc...