Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician • Hacker News Board

Re: Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician

#21

Post by throwaway8521 » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 12:23 PM UTC

standupmaths wrote: post #17

throwaway8521 wrote: post #15

Matt, what are your top recommended intro to proofs books for math beginners?

For a modern popular math book I would recommend The Man Who Loved Only Numbers (by Paul Hoffman) about the life Paul Erdős. Is a great intro to the life of a working mathematician and a bit about proof. The classic text is How To Solve It (by Georg Pólya). A bit antiquated but still good. Beyond that: find an introductory text book to a subject and start trying the worked examples!

Thanks for the recommendations!

Re: Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician

#22

Post by standupmaths » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 1:07 PM UTC

fjsolwmv wrote: post #20

standupmaths wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a modern popular math book I would recommend The Man Who Loved Only Numbers (by Paul Hoffman) about the life Paul Erdős. Is a great intro to the life of a working mathematician and a bit about proof. The classic text is How To Solve It (by Georg Pólya). A bit antiquated but still good. Beyond that: find an introductory text book to a subject and start trying the worked examples!

Isn't that a bit misleading because Erdos was a famously unusual mathematician personality/lifestyle? I think focusing on Erdos as an intro fetishizes mathematicians/mathematics.

Good point but the book is very clear about how unusual Erdős was and talks about the lives of more normal mathematicians he worked with.

Re: Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician

#23

Post by standupmaths » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 1:08 PM UTC

liftbigweights wrote: post #19

standupmaths wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is a great observation. It reminds me of when I was recording my latest DVD special, also available on download and floppy disk. http://festivalofthespokennerd.com/dvd

> That is a great observation. I couldn't agree more. > It reminds me of when I was recording my latest DVD special, also available on download and floppy disk. http://festivalofthespokennerd.com/dvd Looks like I'm going to finish my christmas shopping early boys. Are the floppy disks 3 1/2 or 5 1/4?

They are 3½. We’re not monsters.

Re: Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician

#24

Post by taneq » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 1:11 PM UTC

standupmaths wrote: post #5

Hello everyone. Didn’t expect to see myself here. I was so startled I made an account. Ah… you’ll probably enjoy my new book about maths mistakes. Check if your favourite programming error is in there! http://wwwh.umble-pi.com

Hi Matt! Great to see you're doing so well!

(Fellow UWA alum and Slime Volleyball ex-World-Champion here. :D )

Re: Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician

#25

Post by jobigoud » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 1:19 PM UTC

"There is only One True Parabola" https://youtu.be/hoh4TmPzu1w?t=70

Re: Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician

#26

Post by standupmaths » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 1:34 PM UTC

taneq wrote: post #24

standupmaths wrote: post #5

Hello everyone. Didn’t expect to see myself here. I was so startled I made an account. Ah… you’ll probably enjoy my new book about maths mistakes. Check if your favourite programming error is in there! http://wwwh.umble-pi.com

Hi Matt! Great to see you're doing so well! (Fellow UWA alum and Slime Volleyball ex-World-Champion here. :D )

Hello! It’s been a long time since playing slime volleyball on translucent iMacs.

Re: Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician

#27

Post by adito » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 1:37 PM UTC

standupmaths wrote: post #18

andrewshadura wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi Matt, great to see you here, I enjoyed your performance at freenode.live last year in Bristol.

Thanks! I enjoyed that evening in the museum. My spherical camera is still working as well.

wait... you are on freenode irc network too or just attending the freenode.live event?

Re: Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician

#28

Post by asztal » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 1:57 PM UTC

standupmaths wrote: post #5

Hello everyone. Didn’t expect to see myself here. I was so startled I made an account. Ah… you’ll probably enjoy my new book about maths mistakes. Check if your favourite programming error is in there! http://wwwh.umble-pi.com

Didn't expect to see you posting here either. Anyway, thanks for teaching me what a sausage catastrophe is!

Re: Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician

#29

Post by maroonblazer » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 2:01 PM UTC

standupmaths wrote: post #17

throwaway8521 wrote: post #15

Matt, what are your top recommended intro to proofs books for math beginners?

For a modern popular math book I would recommend The Man Who Loved Only Numbers (by Paul Hoffman) about the life Paul Erdős. Is a great intro to the life of a working mathematician and a bit about proof. The classic text is How To Solve It (by Georg Pólya). A bit antiquated but still good. Beyond that: find an introductory text book to a subject and start trying the worked examples!

You'd recommend Polya over "How to Prove It" by Velleman? Polya's seems more about general problem-solving techniques, versus proofs.

Re: Matt Parker – Standup Mathematician

#30

Post by fermienrico » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 3:08 PM UTC

mjlee wrote: post #3

Given we've got Matt Parker and Excel on the front page at the same time, it feels like I have to recommend this video of both: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBX2QQHlQ_I

Enjoyed this! Except the advertisement for his book in the middle of the show.