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Are there other nice math books close to the style of Tristan Needham?
Hello,I'vebeenverypositivelyimpressedbyTristanNeedham'sbook"VisualComplexAnalysis",averyoriginalandatypicalmathematics
bookwhichismoreorientedtohelpingintuitionandinsightthantorigorousformalization.I'mwonderingifanybodyknowsofothernicemath
bookswhichsharethisparticularstyleofexposition.
books
mathcommunication biglist
editedJul16'10at12:22
CommunityWiki?DanRamrasJul14'10at18:54
YouSHOULDbeimpressed,Marco.It'satrulyremarkablebookthatshouldbereadbyanyoneseriouslyinterested
inanalysisorphysics,particularlyforit'shistoricalinsight.TheMathemagicianJul14'10at19:11
communitywiki
2revisions,2users
Marco100%
12 OnonehandIwantto+1becausethat'sindeedagreatbook.OntheotherhandIshouldprobably1becauseit'sa
badquestion(well,atleastaslongasit'sphrasedthewayitisandsinceit'snotcommunitywiki).SoI'lldoneither
fornow.I'lljustleavethiscomment:whilemanybookscometomind,oneparticularauthorwhohasastylesimilar
tothatofNeedham's(thatis,hisbooksarefullofintuitionandhistoricalinsight)isJohnStillwell.I'mnotgoingto
recommendaparticularbookbecausemostofthemaregreat(Isay'most'andnot'all'becauseIhaven'treadthem
all).danseeteaJul14'10at19:22
@danseeteaThesimilaritybetweenthetextsofStillwellandNeedham'smasterworkisindeedstrikingandisnotan
accident:ProfessorStillwellisacknowledgedintheintroductiontoNeedham'sbookasastronginfluenceonthe
styleofthetext.WecanalllearnagreatdealfromProfessorStillwell'stexts,emphasizingthehistorical
developmentofthegreatedificeofmathematics.TheMathemagicianJul14'10at22:32
@Davidac897Both,ideally.AstudentstrugglingwithamorerigorouspresentationsuchasAlfhorsorNarishamwill
benefittremendouslyfromthegeometricandhistoricalpresentationofthebasicsanddrawingconnectionsbetween
them.Astudentwhohasmasteredarigorouspresentationwillgainmuchdeeperinsightintowhattheabstract
construction"means".TheMathemagicianJul15'10at19:35
28Answers
JohnStillwell'srecentbookNaiveLieTheoryisamazingandinasimilarvein.Itprovidesgreat
geometricalintuitionformanyofthecommonmatrixgroups.Whatisparticularlyimpressive
aboutthisbookishowhemotivatesmorecomplicatedideas,suchasmaximaltoriiinavery
elementaryfashion.Itisperfectforundergradslookingforagoodintroduction.
editedJun30'13at14:08
communitywiki
LJ
3 Iwouldjustliketosecondthisopinion!ThereareseveralconceptsIneverentirelyunderstooduntilasinglesentence
ofStillwell'sperfectlyphrasedclearedyearsoffog.UnderstandinghowLiebracketsconnecttotheconventional
crossproductisonesuch"Oh!"moment.JosephO'RourkeJul14'10at20:48
Agreed.Thehistoricalnotesattheendofthebookareparticularlyenlightening.QiaochuYuanJul15'10at1:22
Absolutelyagreed.IalsohadthesheerpleasureofbeinglecturedbyJohnStillwellwhenhewashereinAustraliain
theearlytomid1990s:seemyansweronStillwell's"ClassicalTopologyandCombinatorialGroupTheory.
WetSavannaAnimalakaRodVanceMay23'11at7:13
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deliveredtoyourinbox(seeanexample).
IshareyouradmirationforNeedham'sbook!OneofmyfavoritesisGeometryandthe
ImaginationbyDavidHilbertandStephanCohnVossen.Someoftheirfiguresarestunning,
almostworksofart,andofcoursealldrawnbeforecomputers!Heretheyareexplaininghow
oneellipsoid,onehyperboloidofonesheet,andonehyperboloidoftwosheets,passthrough
anypointinspace:
help
editedJul14'10at20:45
communitywiki
JosephO'Rourke
1 TheoriginalGermaneditionofthebookistruemarveltobehold(IownaRussiantranslationandhaveusedAMS
translation,buttheyarenotinthesameleague).VictorProtsakJul15'10at1:15
2 WhatIfindmindbogglingaboutmathematicsandphysicsoftimesgonebyisthestaggeringabilityofpeopletodraw,
graphandvisualiseWITHOUTCOMPUTERS.Theyeitherdiditwithsuperbinsightorwithanalmostsoulcrushing
slogofworkbothtobeadmired.MydayjobisopticalengineeringandIamputtingtogetheraLietheorytextinmy
sparetimeItrulybelievethattheonlysignificant(butabsolutelyfundamental)waymyjobswoulddifferwithout
computersisthatIwouldbelostwithouttheabilitytographandvisualisethattheygive....
WetSavannaAnimalakaRodVanceMay23'11at6:42
3 ....(Commentcontinued)ThinkofAbramowitzandStegunallthosegraphsdrawnbyhand.Or,thereisaplotofthe
radiationpatternfromaMiescatteringsphereinBornandWolf,PrinciplesofOptics.Ithasexquisitelyfinestructure
intheplot,whichwasalldonebyhandcalculation.IhadtowriteaMiescatteringsoftwarefunctiononce,andIused
BornandWolf'shandcalculationstodebugmyworkthehandcalculationswererightandIwaswrong!Itshould
havebeentheotherwayaround!!WetSavannaAnimalakaRodVanceMay23'11at6:45
I'vejustbeenreading"VisualGroupTheory"byNathanCarter.Thesimilarityoftitleto
Needham'smaybecoincidence,butthebookhasexactlythesameeffect:itSHOWSyou
WHYallthesethingsaretrue,whenconventionalproofssooftenjustTELLyouWHATistrue.
editedNov24'14at16:19
communitywiki
2revs,2users67%
Adam
MyfavoritealongwiththeVisualComplexAnalysisbyTristanNeedham
isGrad,Div,CurlandallthatbyH.M.Schey
NOTE:Alice'sAdventuresinWonderlandbyLewisCarrollisstillthebestmathematical
bookIhaveeverread.
answeredJul14'10at18:22
communitywiki
PratikDeoghare
2 ReAlice'sAdventures,youmaywanttotakealookatbl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/alice/accessible/introduction.html
AndrsCaicedoJul14'10at19:53
@AndresCaicedo:Greatlink!Thanks!PratikDeoghareJul14'10at20:41
"Indra'sPearls:TheVisionofFelixKlein"byDavidMumford,CarolinaSeriesandDavid
Wright.
Mostcertainlyvisual,thisbookisnotinthesamecategoryasmostofthebooksmentionedso
far.Infact,itdefiescategorizationatallbecauseitisacombinationofanamazinggroundlevel
introductiontogrouptheoryandamonographonShottkygroups,whichgrewoutofdesireto
findmathematicstogoalongwithstunningcomputergraphics.Andithasoutstandingcartoons
byLarryGonick.
editedJul15'10at1:24
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2revisions,2users
JosephO'Rourke60%
Iwasn'tabletofindthepictureofthefrontcovertoembed(andDavidWright'swebsiteseemstobedown).Ifyou
knowwheretogetone,please,putitin!VictorProtsakJul15'10at1:06
Thereyougo,Victor!JosephO'RourkeJul15'10at1:25
Great,thankyouverymuch,Joseph!VictorProtsakJul15'10at2:06
Itcertainlycatchestheeyeandmademediscoverthisgreatbook,thankyou!JrmeJEANCHARLESFeb18'15
at18:03
Ihaven'treadNeedham'sbooksoI'mnottotallysurewhatyoumean,butitsoundslikeyou
mightlike"ThreeDimensionalGeometryandTopology"byBillThurstonandSilvioLevy.
answeredJul14'10at18:05
communitywiki
NoahSnyder
"MathematicalMethodsofClassicalMechanics"and"Ordinarydifferentialequations"bylate
V.I.Arnold.Inmyopinion,theseareTHEbooksforanyonewhowantstounderstand
geometrictheoryofODEs.IagreewithAndrew'scommentthough,thatthebooksmightbea
difficultreadforanundergraduate(particularly,thefirstone).
MypickforFourieranalysisis,well,"Fourieranalysis"byT.W.Krner.Verypedagogical,with
lotsofhistoricalsectionsandniceillustrations.Anditisprobablymoreinthespiritof
Needham'sbookthanthebooksbyArnold.
editedJul14'10at21:11
communitywiki
AndreyRekalo
1 Itotallyagree,butthesebooksareconsiderablyharderthenNeedham's.Butifyou'reseriousaboutunderstanding
thedeeperaspectsofthetheoryofODE's,theyareanecessity.IndeedallArnold'sbookareatestamenttooneof
thegreatmathematiciansandteachersofalltimeandhisawesomeperspectiveunifyingbothmathematicsand
physicalsciencesthroughthesharedlanguageofgeometry.TheMathemagicianJul14'10at22:34
2 "OrdinaryDifferentialEquations"istheonlyoneIhaveread,butitisamongthebestmathbooksI'vecomeacross.I
wouldn'thavecalleditdifficult,thoughArnold'sstylemakesitacomfortablereadformostgraduatestudents,I'd
say.(Itactuallymakesquitenice"pleasurereading"whenyouwantabreakfrommorestrenuousstuff.)
TomChurchJul15'10at3:05
@TomYes,forGRADUATEstudentswithverygoodcommandoflinearalgebraandbasicanalysis,yes,Iagree.But
anundergraduateunlessthey'resuperiorwillfindthemprettytough.EspeciallytheClassicalMechanicstext,whichis
clearlyagraduateleveltextbyanyone'smeasure.TheMathemagicianJul15'10at8:22
"MMCM"ismyfavouriteaswell.MichaelAug26'14at22:37
APanoramicViewofRiemannianGeometrybyMarcelBerger.
Itgetsintoquiteadvancedandsometimestechnicaltopics,butgeometricintuitionisalwaysat
thefore.Lotsofgreatpictures!Itmustbeimpossibletoreadthisbookwithoutgetting
passionatelyexcitedaboutdifferentialgeometry.Berger'sotherbooksongeometryare
similarlyoutstanding,ifmoreconventional.
answeredJul16'10at16:21
communitywiki
PerVognsen
JohnStillwell's"ClassicalTopologyandCombinatorialGroupTheory(SpringerVerlag
GraduateTextsinMathematics)".Seealsotheansweronhis"NaiveLieTheory".
IalsohadthesheerpleasureofbeinglecturedbyJohnStillwellwhenhewashereinAustralia
intheearlytomid1990s.Itookfourofhiscoursesinall,ingeneralgroupandGaloistheoryas
welltwotopics(topologyandRiemannSurfaces)whichwereverymuchsubtopicsofthe
abovebook.Ihopehewouldn'tmindmysayingthathisgiftforexplanationdidnotappear
magically:sheerhardworkwasevidentinhislecturenotesandhegavemetheimpressionof
someoneneverhappywithanexplanationasitwas,hewasalwaysstrivingforasimplerand
cleaneroneforeverythinghelectured.PerhapsamathematicalanalogueofRichardFeynman
asateacher.InhisGaloistheorylecturesIandafewotherstudentswereluckyenoughtojoin
himasfellowlearners:hewasstillgettinghislecturesstraightand,inhishonestway,warned
usthatthiswouldbethecase.Sowe"read"EmilArtin's"GaloisTheory"together.ThusIgotto
seefirsthandthestaggeringamountofworkheputintobuildinghisexplanations.
answeredMay23'11at7:12
communitywiki
WetSavannaAnimalakaRod
Vance
Inhisownwords:"IreadthebooksofEdwards,Tignol,Artin,Kaplansky,MacLaneandBirkhoffandLang,taughta
courseonGaloistheory,andthendiscarded90%ofwhatIhadlearned."from'GaloisTheoryforBeginners'.
MariusKempeSep1'13at11:26
NonlineardynamicsandchaosbyStevenStrogatz.Lotsofpictures,intutiveandclear
explanations,interestingapplications,greathumor.
answeredJul15'10at14:38
communitywiki
HansLundmark
Yes!ThisisthebookthattomecomesclosesttoVisualComplexAnalysisinspirit.dfanDec8'15at16:28
RogerPenrose'sTheRoadtoReality.NeedhamsaysinVCAthatPenrosetaughthimwhat
goodstyleis.
answeredMay22'11at18:49
communitywiki
isomorphismes
It'snotexactlyasvisualasVisualComplexAnalysis,butMichaelSpivak'sAComprehensive
IntroductiontoDifferentialGeometryhasalotofthesameappealtointuitionand
conversationalstyle.(Well,I'veonlyreadVolume1,there'satotalof5,butifthey'reanything
likeotherSpivakbooksI'veread,thisholdstrueofthemaswell).
answeredJul16'10at17:53
communitywiki
AdrianPetrescu
3 Iliketheartworkonthecoverofthesebooks!SpicetheBirdJun16'11at21:32
DavidBressoud's"ProofsandConfirmations:TheStoryoftheAlternatingSignMatrix
Conjecture"isalsowonderful.Emphasisonhowtheconjecturewasproved,andits
connectionstomanyinterestingareasofmath.
editedNov28'12at3:14
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PeterR
2 I'monereputationpointshortofbeingallowedtoeditthepost,sohereisanitpickycommentinstead:thesubtitle
shouldbe"TheStoryoftheAlternatingSignMatrixConjecture".(AndIagreethatit'salovelybook!)
HansLundmarkJul15'10at14:30
AquiterecentbookisAdvancedCalculus:AGeometricViewbyJamesCallahan.Itisliberally
illustratedandevencontainsasectiononMorse'slemmainthechapteroncriticalpoints.Bear
inmind,though,thatthebookisnotintendedforabsolutenovicestomultivariablecalculus.
Familiaritywithbasicconceptssuchaspartialderivativesisexpected,asissomeknowledge
oflinearalgebra.
Edit:AreviewbyWilliamJ.Satzerisavailableathttp://www.maa.org/publications/maa
reviews/advancedcalculusageometricview.
editedAug2'14at20:58
communitywiki
2revs
JW
RogerGodement,Analysis,vols.ItoIV(Springer).Containsmanyinterestinghistorical,
heuristicandmotivationalcomments.IncludesseveraldetailsonBourbaki("bandemilitante")
inVol.III.Greatmathematicalcontent,plussomeprovocativethoughts.
answeredMay23'11at5:42
communitywiki
fcukier
AnotherbooktotryisMichioKuga'sGalois'Dream.Itcertainlyhasitsownuniquestyle(very
playful)butIthinkitsfocusonintuitionsetsitapartfrommanyothermathbooks.Apparentlyit
wasquiteapopculturehitinJapan!
editedJul14'10at19:44
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DanRamras
AwonderfulbookwhichoverviewsalotofthesekindsofideasisGlimpsesofAlgebraand
GeometrybyGaborToth.Fromtheproductdescription,"ThepurposeofGlimpsesofAlgebra
andGeometryistofillagapbetweenundergraduateandgraduatemathematicsstudies.Itis
oneofthefewundergraduatetextstoexplorethesubtleandsometimespuzzlingconnections
betweennumbertheory,classicalgeometryandmodernalgebrainaclearandeasily
understandablestyle."
answeredJul15'10at9:52
communitywiki
DavidCorwin
Averygoodbookindeed.TheMathemagicianJul16'10at2:16
IfImayaddmytwocents,Iwouldaddtwomorebooksthatareanintegralpartofmylibrary,
andwhichIhavepresentlylenttoagiftedmiddleschoolstudent.Oneisthe'shapeofspace'
byJeffWeeks,andtheotheris'Symmetryofthings'byJohnConway
JeffWeek'sbookisanincrediblyenjoyableaccountofthetopologyof3manifolds.Icame
acrosssomeonementioningthelateBillThurston'sbookinthispost.WhileThurston'sbookis
definitelymorerigorous,IwouldsaythatWeek'sbookisanoverlookedclassic.Hisinvitation
toexperimentwithintuitiontoextrapolatetotheabstract,andtyinginatheoretician'smental
forayswithcosmologicalmeasurementsisquiteaneyeopener.
JohnConway'sbook,ontheotherhand,whileitshowcasessomeideasofsymmetrythrough
theworkofsomeartistslikeBathshebaGrossman,islargelyaboutabstraction.Itisamajor
work,thelatterparttechnicalenoughtochallengeandinspiremathematiciansontheforefront
oftheirfield(inhiswords,notmine!).
answeredNov10'12at7:04
communitywiki
quarkiness
DavidBressoud'sbookSecondYearCalculus:FromCelestialMechanicstoSpecialRelativity
issomethinglikeNeedham'sbook.Bothhaveanemphasisonhistoryandapplications.
answeredJul14'10at18:22
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JohnD.Cook
1 SpeakingofBressoud,the"history+applications"threadalsorunsthroughhisotherbook"ARadicalApproachto
RealAnalysis".Itwastrulyajoytoperuse.J.M.Aug5'10at10:35
"SolidShape"byJanJ.Koenderink,MITPress
Thisisanolderbook,butithassomereallyniceapproachestothinkingaboutdifferential
geometry,andheencouragesthereadertodevelopmultipleviewsofthesubject.
http://books.google.com.au/books/about/Solid_Shape.html?id=pIyNQwAACAAJ
This,Indra'sPearlsandNeedhamaremyalltimefavoritemathematicaltomes,andIreturnto
themregularly.
answeredMay24'12at7:10
communitywiki
StuartRamsden
TheShapeofAlgebrainTheMirrorsofMathematicsbyG.KatzandV.
Nodelman
and
TheWildWorldof4ManifoldsbyAlexandruScorpan
editedNov27'12at23:48
communitywiki
3revisions
Istronglyrecommend"TheEssenceofChaos"byEdwardNLorenz.Notonlyconsiderable
historicalbackground,butawonderfuldiscussionofchaos,auniqueandrealisticmodel
developmentandclassicmodels.Allwithoutdeepmathematics,butdetailedsothatonecan
programhismodelofasledonasnowcoveredhillwithmoguls.Atrueclassicthatshouldbe
oneverybookshelf(afterhavingreaditindepth!)
answeredDec24'13at20:21
communitywiki
user44641
Evenmorevisual,evenlessformal,is"Dynamics,theGeometryofBehavior,"byRalph
AbrahamandChrisShaw.Ifindtheapproachveryusefulforadifficultsubject,howeverit
needstobesupplementedwithmorerigorousmaterial.
AdigitaleditioncanbepurchasedthroughAerialPresshttp://www.aerialpress.com
answeredJan16'14at18:00
communitywiki
Pait
AllYouWantedtoKnowAboutMathematicsbutWereAfraidtoAsk:MathematicsforScience
StudentsbyLouisLyons
Heexplainssomebasictopicsthatsciencestudentsneedtoknow.Excellentexplanation,
extremelyintuitiveandbeautiful.Tooelementaryformostreadersofthisthread,butagood
readforanadvancedhighschoolstudent/beginningundergrad.
answeredJul16'10at2:07
communitywiki
Rune
FromGeometryToTopologybyH.GrahamFlegg
Thisbookexplainssomebasictopologicalconceptsusingalotofexamplesandithasquitea
lotofpictures.Infact,itisratherhardtofindasinglepagethathasnopicturesinit.Verygood
forintuitionindeed.AndalsoverycheapsinceitisaDoverreprint.
answeredJul16'10at17:44
communitywiki
AdrinBarquero
Youcouldseethisbookasagentlewarmuptotopology,whichpurposeitfulfilsadmirably.Bytheway,Iwasamused
toreadinChapter8thatthefourcolourtheoremhadneverbeenproved.Ofcourse,sincethebookwasoriginally
publishedin1974.JWMar17'13at14:35
ParallelCoordinates:VisualMultidimensionalGeometryanditsApplicationsbyAlfred
Inselberg
HasbeenpraisedbyStephenHawkingandothers
http://www.amazon.com/ParallelCoordinatesMultidimensionalGeometry
Applications/dp/0387215077
Thebarrier,imposedbyourthreedimensionalhabitationandperceptualexperience,hasbeen
breachedbythisinnovativeandversatilemethodology.Therearebeautifulvisualsof
multidimensionalobjectsandinsightsintomultidimensionalproblems:AirTraffic,DataMining,
IntelligentProcessControl
answeredFeb11'13at14:20
communitywiki
AlfredInselberg
ifyouareinterestedindynamicalsystems/oscillators/differentialequations,Pikovsky's
Synchronization:AUniversalConceptinNonlinearSciencesisverywellwritten.
alttext
answeredJul15'10at2:14
communitywiki
SandeepJ
HowNottoBeWrong:thePowerofMathematicalThinkingbyJordanEllenbergPenguin
Press,2014isawonderful,easilyreadexpositiononsubjectssuchasstatisticalanalysisfora
widevarietyofexamples.Alsoalotofhistory.Surprisingandclearlywritten.
answeredAug26'14at21:53
communitywiki
user44641
1 I'msureit'sagoodbook,butthatisnotwhatthisquestionisaskingforYemonChoiAug26'14at21:55
1 "atypicalmathematicsbookwhichismoreorientedtohelpingintuitionandinsightthantorigorousformalization.I'm
wonderingifanybodyknowsofothernicemathbookswhichsharethisparticularstyleofexposition".thisisjust
whatEllenberg'sbookisabout.user44641Aug26'14at22:00
