*Concerns of Young Mathematicians* || Comments || Which Undergrad Subjects Should I Learn?

The Young Mathematicians' Network
Serving the Community of Young Mathematicians

Sections:

Front Page Career Diaries Editors Work and Family Life Grad Life Job Search Misc Paths to Math Research Teaching Undergrad Life Events Frequently Asked Questions News

Which Undergrad Subjects Should I Learn? | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)

[new] More Advice (none / 0) (#3)
by Jonny77889 on Thu Mar 13, 2008 at 04:40:35 PM PDT

Yes, linear algebra is a good subject to study since it comes up everywhere in mathematics. The first linear algebra book I used was by Howard Anton and Chris Rorres, and it's a good book. It gives a good introduction to the subject and is not hard to read. There's also one by Howard Anton (alone) that I hadn't seen--just heard about--but I would guess it's probably about the same as the previous book I mentioned.

Herstein's book "Abstract Algebra" is good and very readable and gives a good introduction to algebra. Dummitt and Foote's book is also good, but some of it may be too hard for high school students since there is some rather sophisticated material in there. But much of it is also pretty basic too. It has much more material than other algebra books that give an overall view of the subject, so it's a good reference too.

I can't think of any "must-have" DE's (mathematicians tend to call them DE's and engineers tend to call them diffy q's, according to what I've heard) books right now, but DE's would be a good subject to study.

Perhaps number theory is also a good option. Much of the material in introductory books is not too abstract and does not require much background to understand. William Leveque's book "Elementary Theory of Numbers" might be a good start. Dover has an edition of it, so it shouldn't cost much to get a copy. I hadn't examined it extensively, but it appears that George Andrew's book is pretty good, too. Dover publishes an edition as well.

If you can take college courses for credit, that's a good option. One such course I would recommend is a course on mathematicial reasoning and proof. Knowledge of this is essential for a mathematician! In fact, one of my friends who is a math professor has a mathematicially-talented son in high school who just took (or is now taking? I'm not quite sure) such a course at Austin Peay State University.

Hope this helps.

Jonny Groves

Which Undergrad Subjects Should I Learn? | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)

Display: Sort:

Menu

create account
FAQ
Search
Recent Comments

Login

Make a new account

Username:

Password:

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest

create account | faq | search