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Intuition of Mathematics

The document discusses recommendations for math books with a similar style to Tristan Needham's book 'Visual Complex Analysis', which provides intuition and insight over formal rigor. Suggested books include works by John Stillwell that emphasize history, as well as 'Geometry and the Imagination' which features stunning illustrations. 'Visual Group Theory' and 'Indra's Pearls' are also recommended for their visual approach.

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Sajal Kumar
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
180 views8 pages

Intuition of Mathematics

The document discusses recommendations for math books with a similar style to Tristan Needham's book 'Visual Complex Analysis', which provides intuition and insight over formal rigor. Suggested books include works by John Stillwell that emphasize history, as well as 'Geometry and the Imagination' which features stunning illustrations. 'Visual Group Theory' and 'Indra's Pearls' are also recommended for their visual approach.

Uploaded by

Sajal Kumar
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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

Didyoufindthisquestioninteresting?Tryournewsletter
Signupforournewsletterandgetourtopnewquestions
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

communitywiki
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

communitywiki
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

communitywiki
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

communitywiki
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

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