Thread: Good introductory books to Math

Anyone know of any math books that are great introductions to math (from basic algebra to calculus)? Visual books, I think, are very helpful. I'm sure there are plenty of people like me who have generally stayed away from math-- that is, have generally disliked dealing with numbers, but enjoy logic though through words (i.e. philosophy, literature, theory)--but at some point in their life realize its importance. I personally realized that my schooling ruined my interest and skills in math and that perhaps if I had been taught outside of a classroom setting where the teaching was not compulsory, nor with gender biases, that I'd be much better at math than I am today.

If you know of any good books that are for laypersons (i.e. those not experts at math nor who have generally enjoyed it) please let me know!

Originally Posted by Poisonxix

Anyone know of any math books that are great introductions to math (from basic algebra to calculus)? Visual books, I think, are very helpful. I'm sure there are plenty of people like me who have generally stayed away from math-- that is, have generally disliked dealing with numbers, but enjoy logic though through words (i.e. philosophy, literature, theory)--but at some point in their life realize its importance. I personally realized that my schooling ruined my interest and skills in math and that perhaps if I had been taught outside of a classroom setting where the teaching was not compulsory, nor with gender biases, that I'd be much better at math than I am today.

If you know of any good books that are for laypersons (i.e. those not experts at math nor who have generally enjoyed it) please let me know!

Have you tried MIT OpenCourseWare and Coursera?
If you want visual explanations, you can also check the Khan Academy (both the site and the YT Channel) and Wolfram MathWorld.

Perhaps other members will come up with more resources that you could use to study mathematics.

Having Fun With Numbers: Learn Math With Farm Animals! I saw one for sale in a Ranger Rick magazine.

How about "A book of abstract algebra" if you want to learn abstract algebra. You said "from basic algebra to calculus" but this is past calculus. However if you don't know calculus there won't be much that you wouldn't understand. Also "Calculus for Cats" and "Algebra Unplugged", both by same people.

AIM Open Textbook Initiative

This looks like a good resource.

Originally Posted by Cogito Ergo Sum

Originally Posted by Poisonxix

Anyone know of any math books that are great introductions to math (from basic algebra to calculus)? Visual books, I think, are very helpful. I'm sure there are plenty of people like me who have generally stayed away from math-- that is, have generally disliked dealing with numbers, but enjoy logic though through words (i.e. philosophy, literature, theory)--but at some point in their life realize its importance. I personally realized that my schooling ruined my interest and skills in math and that perhaps if I had been taught outside of a classroom setting where the teaching was not compulsory, nor with gender biases, that I'd be much better at math than I am today.

If you know of any good books that are for laypersons (i.e. those not experts at math nor who have generally enjoyed it) please let me know!

Have you tried MIT OpenCourseWare and Coursera?
If you want visual explanations, you can also check the Khan Academy (both the site and the YT Channel) and Wolfram MathWorld.

Perhaps other members will come up with more resources that you could use to study mathematics.

I am aware of MIT OpenCourseWare, Coursera and the Khan Academy. The problem with these for me is that it is difficult to commit to online learning. I've signed up for all kinds of courses online--am never able to stick to them because of my schedule. Generally, I do well with studying material I can access physically.

You want something like Calculus (Stewart) or Calculus of a Single Variable (Larson et al). For introductory algebra try A first course in Abstract Algebra (Fraleigh).