Ask HN: Recommendation for (re)learning Math Skills

#1

Post by evo_9 » Mon, Jun 21, 2010, 7:39 PM UTC

I'm kind of an pariah in the CS world as I was unlucky enough to have multiple terrible math teachers as a kid and don't have what I would consider a strong math background. I've never really enjoyed math as much as I think I should, even though I've always loved programming and even 'math puzzles' from time to time.

I've noticed in recent years that my math skills are much higher than they should be considering my lack of major education in that area (College Algebra is about it). This has come up working with colleagues or just taking some fun online IQ tests where I scored highest in math even though I've always been led to believe I suck at it.

I'm wondering what HN readers would recommend to someone like me as a good avenue to relearn some basics and then move into areas I've only scratch the service of such as geometry and trig?

Re: Ask HN: Recommendation for (re)learning Math Skills

#2

Post by csarva » Mon, Jun 21, 2010, 7:47 PM UTC

I've had a similar interest lately, to freshen up on some higher maths that I've studied in school and mostly forgotten due to lack of use. Calculus, linear algebra, statistics; I feel like it would be good to review some cliff notes, but not sure of a good source.

Re: Ask HN: Recommendation for (re)learning Math Skills

#3

Post by wturner » Mon, Jun 21, 2010, 7:48 PM UTC

www.khanacademy.org

Re: Ask HN: Recommendation for (re)learning Math Skills

#4

Post by tptacek » Mon, Jun 21, 2010, 8:23 PM UTC

wturner wrote: post #3

www.khanacademy.org

Can't recommend this highly enough. Am using it to teach my 9 year old daughter trig over the summer; I dip into it every other week or so (last week to re-remember polar coordinates, for instance).

Re: Ask HN: Recommendation for (re)learning Math Skills

#5

Post by anemecek » Mon, Jun 21, 2010, 8:29 PM UTC

Check out the book series Art of Problem Solving.

Edit: There is also a book called Art and Craft of Problem Solving which is unrelated to this series but which is worth checking out too, despite the fact that it is not exactly what you are looking for.

Re: Ask HN: Recommendation for (re)learning Math Skills

#6

Post by ctbarna » Mon, Jun 21, 2010, 8:30 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #4

wturner wrote: post #3

www.khanacademy.org

Can't recommend this highly enough. Am using it to teach my 9 year old daughter trig over the summer; I dip into it every other week or so (last week to re-remember polar coordinates, for instance).

I applaud you for teaching your daughter trig. Nobody has ever "taught" me trig and I have to constantly (re)look up identities and such.

Re: Ask HN: Recommendation for (re)learning Math Skills

#7

Post by jcw » Mon, Jun 21, 2010, 8:30 PM UTC

wturner wrote: post #3

www.khanacademy.org

I've been using this to re-learn Trig, as well as learn Calculus and Linear Algebra. Very easy to follow, and the videos are usually only about ten minutes long.

Re: Ask HN: Recommendation for (re)learning Math Skills

#8

Post by jules » Mon, Jun 21, 2010, 8:31 PM UTC

For geometry and trig perhaps high school math books are the best resource.

What do you mean by college algebra? Do you mean abstract algebra, like group theory? In any case geometry and trigonometry is a prerequisite for college level math.

Re: Ask HN: Recommendation for (re)learning Math Skills

#9

Post by shareme » Mon, Jun 21, 2010, 8:31 PM UTC

I had d- grades in hs algebra but I was lucky enough to find a very cool Polish Math Professor in college that got me into kicking ass in math..A+ all math courses in college often at 8 and 12 credit hours during summer 8 and 12 week sessions..

The key is working wide range of problems and feedback. You get both of those than you will pick up fast. Part of that feedback is self invented..graph everything..

Re: Ask HN: Recommendation for (re)learning Math Skills

#10

Post by pwhisen » Mon, Jun 21, 2010, 8:35 PM UTC

Math is one of the best skill sets to have and especially powerful for cs. I recently took differential equations, but I hadn't had math in around 2 years. To brush up on my trig identities needed for the calculus and also for a review of some of the basic formulas needed in calculus, I used http://sosmath.com/. I went through and made notes on what I learned, did a few practice problems, and within around a week I was good to go. It covers everything from algebra to diff eq. Hope it helps you as much as it helped me.