To get a decent grasp of mathematics from knowing absolutely nothing

[Punchslap]

I'm a school student*; and like many other school students, I have a hard time with mathematics. I figured I'd do some extra work at home so I bought and tried out Langs "Basic Mathematics"; which is, as the title implies, basic. But I had a hard time following it from the first or second chapter so I quit. It was probably too advanced, so can anyone give me tips of literature that gives the absolute basics? I know the concepts of addition, subtraction, dividing and stuff you learn since you're a little kid, but after that things start to get blurry. I assume that the school system takes our knowledge of previously covered concepts for granted. But honestly, I forget most things we do in school after a few days so I have a hard time comprehending the stuff we're "learning(supposed to be, at least)" as I have no grasp for other concepts that need to be understood first(I have no idea though, I might just be stupid).

Anyway, I figured I'd learn it "for real" now, with an actual understanding of all the concepts. But I need some guidelines. Any tips?

 

*(not relevant)I'm studying in Sweden and I am currently in the "gymnasium"(16 to 18 year olds mostly), which is the stage before university.

 

Thanks.

[studiot]

The most important thing of all is that you do not learn maths by reading and particularly you do not become proficient at it that way.

 

You learn by doing.

 

Yes some reading or other source of instruction (teacher, Internet, friends etc) will provide material but do not try to read too much theory before doing lots and lots of practice.

 

By 16/18 you should surely know more than add/subtract/multiply/divide. You surely know some geometry such as stuff about circles and squares?

 

Give us a bigger clue as to your range and intended applications.

Edited January 23, 2014 by studiot

[Punchslap]

The most important thing of all is that you do not learn maths by reading and particularly you do not become proficient at it that way.

 

You learn by doing.

 

Yes some reading or other source of instruction (teacher, Internet, friends etc) will provide material but do not try to read too much theory before doing lots and lots of practice.

 

By 16/18 you should surely know more than add/subtract/multiply/divide. You surely know some geometry such as stuff about circles and squares?

 

Give us a bigger clue as to your range and intended applications.

 

Yes, we have done much more than simply what I described first. But much of this information has faded away from my memory. We have gone through all major subtopics I believe, basic geometry, percentages, fractions, probability theory, statistics, graphs, etc. but I can't remember any of the formulas. The only thing I can remember off the top of my head are the concepts of addition, division, multiplication, subtraction, some basic percentage formulas, basic geometry and some more. With some thinking I can probably fish out something more I remember, but right now were not studying mathematics in school for the course I'm taking(for what I'm educating myself to) so not much of this is fresh in my mind.

 

I intend to become a construction engineer, so that's what its for. Aside from that, I also want to get to know some physics, and for the freedom simply knowing stuff I guess.

 

Edit: The math that I'll attend to soon(next school year) will be very hard because the education system takes for granted that I know the basic concepts that I've now forgotten. This was one of the reasons I tried to do some extra work at home.

Edited January 23, 2014 by Punchslap

[studiot]

The best thing I can suggest is to get hold of some books that are not meant for mathematics directly, but use maths, choosing suitable subjects that might interest you.

 

These are often called 'practical maths' and cover stuff like measurement, area, weights and so on.

 

Look for some basic surveying, mechanics, carpentry and the like in your local or school library. See what you can understand and what you need to know more about. then come back and say

"I found this formula in my book on ...... how does it work?"

 

The 'demystified' series of books from America, and the 'Teach yourself' series from England are both good.

 

The solid geometry books in the other thread you were looking at are at a much higher level.

Edited January 23, 2014 by studiot

[imatfaal]

I would go with the Khan Academy - both the video and the self-test units

 

https://www.khanacademy.org/

[Punchslap]

Khanacademy seems useful. Thanks!

 

As for practical maths, aren't there several books intended for engineers that deals for just this?

 

 

As I'm planning mainly to excel the mathematics course next year; what about the oldschool rigorous approach of hardcore study(sitting with your nose in a book for hours?)? I simply want to be prepared for what they are going to present, which is essentially all the basic subtopics. What I had in mind was something(instruction material) that would present a concept, give a brief discussion(the books we use fail to explain the concepts, they simply give guidelines, but doesn't say "why" or "how". But again, it might be my brain failing me or because I forgot the preliminary rudiments) on it and then some exercises or whatever. Kind of like Serge Langs book that I mentioned, but more basic. Is this a bad approach?

 

I'll check out those "Demystified" and "Teach yourself" books too. Thanks

Edited January 23, 2014 by Punchslap

[jwlallen]

Hi,

 

Think I might be able to help with this. I left school more years ago than I care to remember and came away with no qualifications. I certainly struggled with maths as well. I've recently self studied and retaken the exams and achieved an A.

 

I used this textbook.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0007410158

 

Just go through it from start to finish without skipping anything even the parts that come easy as it all provides a base and then builds on it later in the book. I imagine it's the same with most textbooks but the start of each chapter is easy to get through and the end gets pretty tricky (especially if the very concepts are new to you).

 

I'd say expect it to be tough in places and just because you're struggling doesn't mean it's about you it just means that it's tough. If you could fly through the book without it being hard in places you probably wouldn't have needed to study it in the first place..

 

I'd say that on most of the sections there were aspects of it that were troubling but rather than give up and say I don't have a talent for it. Maths is a tricky business especially when your starting out but there's a ton of places you can get support including here. It is ultimately such a rewarding endeavour when you crack the nut of it and it all starts making sense.

 

Honestly if I can get a grip on the basics anyone can but by it's very nature it's difficult so just persevere, ask and be confident that you're not alone in feeling like it just won't ever make sense.

 

I really hope this helps.

[rktpro]

There are few books that would be really helpfull because of their presentation and comprehensiveness. One for Algebra is Hall and Knights Higher Algebra and for geometry(plane) S.L. Loney's book. S.L Loney has written books on trignometery and co-ordinate geometry too. If you have already started doing from some other source then you can stick to that. As already pointed out, you will learn by doing yourself. Books do have solved examples after deriving formulas. Hide solution and think as much as you can. After giving it all you can tele your approach.