What's the best way to learn math?

I'm pretty good at math through beginning algebra, but want to learn more. I'm a slow learner. Can someone recommend a textbook or study course, where I can learn at my own pace?😏

Originally posted by bill718
I'm pretty good at math through beginning algebra, but want to learn more. I'm a slow learner. Can someone recommend a textbook or study course, where I can learn at my own pace?😏

How old are you? Assuming you are over 18 you should get in touch with your local adult education centre and just ask them for advice. You´ll be able to explain to them where you are with maths and they´ll be able to give you better advice than we can in a non face-to-face manner. This is what they are there for.

You can only get so far on your own. You need an expert to discuss the ideas with and help you with sticking points, get past misconceptions etc.

In the UK we have an institution called the Open University. That is the logical first point of contact for a UK resident. There may be a similar US organisation. Have a look at the open university´s website and they may be able to put you in touch with a similar body in the US.

www.open.ac.uk

Originally posted by bill718
I'm pretty good at math through beginning algebra, but want to learn more. I'm a slow learner. Can someone recommend a textbook or study course, where I can learn at my own pace?😏

You have already taken the most important step which is having an interest in learning.

Follow DeepThoughts advice.

You should also realize that maths has several branches, do you know which you are most interested in?

In my first year at university we used the book "Calculus: A Complete Course" by Robert A. Adams, which is a very good book. You'll have to find different books on algebra and differential equations though.

Bill718,

How far would you like to go in your mathematics education? Calculus? Further? Math is a field which is evermore growing larger. I'll assume introductory algebra includes algebra taught throughout high-school, and introductory geometry. If this is indeed the case, the first step I would suggest is getting a good grasp of trigonometry. After this, you can make your way up to introductory calculus.

Originally posted by bill718
I'm pretty good at math through beginning algebra, but want to learn more. I'm a slow learner. Can someone recommend a textbook or study course, where I can learn at my own pace?😏

Algebra Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 by Cohn is my current bedtime reading. It starts of looking Set Theory (mapping, etc), then the Integers and Rational numbers, then Groups, Linear Algebra, and so on.

It's not exactly thrilling, or modern (1974), but it is relatively complete, with some good explanations. However, it all really does depend on how old you are, and what you know - this book looks at "Higher" algebra. For instance, although Groups were, in some respects, first used to solve equations of order 5, they are now used for looking at symmetries. An excellent example of a group is (loosely) your Rubik's cube, because of all the symmetries that exist in it.

On the other hand, I constantly wish I was good at Analysis. All the Algebra I've done seems to have messed up my conceptual thinking functions. Try "Introduction to Real Analysis" by Robert G. Bartle and Donald R. Sherber or "Analysis" by Kopp. I know one of them is excellent, but I can't remember which. Both are certainly worth a look at though.

Originally posted by bill718
I'm pretty good at math through beginning algebra, but want to learn more. I'm a slow learner. Can someone recommend a textbook or study course, where I can learn at my own pace?😏

Sesame street

No really, you've got a 1500 chess rating so I doubt you're slow, just taking your time.

The best way to learn math is ‘HARD PRACTICE’, until you get a peculiar feeling you understand what you are doing.
At the end of the chapter, of math books, commonly, there is a long list of problems to practice and solve, and you have the chance to check your answers at the end of the book only for odds or pairs.
Go through both, no matter there would be no answers to, let’s say odds, solve them anyway.

You will get the feeling, with time and HARD PRACTICE, that the problem is solved correctly or not.
It is a strange peculiar feeling that does come.

Another suggestion is, don’t skip a paragraph, a page or a chapter, and go throughout the whole book.
Patience pays highly on this respect.

When you go through this process you would acquire a new wonderful vision of the world around you; you would also be amazed of how people come to decisions with no, or superficial analysis, and a myriad of other things you’d see from a different perspective.

The math we use is just a ‘Mickey mouse’ of the real math out there; though we go on good direction.
Systems, dimensions, we still are on the beginnings to grasp.
Math is an amazing tool to solve problems, on many fields of science.

This is an excellent book perhaps you’d like to take a look at:
http://articles.latimes.com/2005/may/08/local/me-leithold8
Louis Leithold.

Originally posted by bill718
I'm pretty good at math through beginning algebra, but want to learn more. I'm a slow learner. Can someone recommend a textbook or study course, where I can learn at my own pace?😏

For Calculus I recommend Spivac. It has a supplementary volume containing detailed solutions to all the many excercises. It is rated 5 stars and is available post free from Amazon.

Originally posted by James Dirac
For Calculus I recommend Spivac. It has a supplementary volume containing detailed solutions to all the many excercises. It is rated 5 stars and is available post free from Amazon.

I have a video on DVD, 2 DVD's, called Change and Motion: Calculus made clear, 2nd edition, from the 'Teaching Company' this course taught by Professor Micheal Starbird, from University of Texas, Austin. He uses 3d models and explains everything visually and on the blackboard, all in all, the best video on Calculus that I have run into so far. Highly recommended. link:
www.TEACH12.com. phone: 1800 832 2412
A series of 24 lectures, 30 minutes each. It covers just about every first year subject in Calculus.

Originally posted by bill718
I'm pretty good at math through beginning algebra, but want to learn more. I'm a slow learner. Can someone recommend a textbook or study course, where I can learn at my own pace?😏

I think the best course of study is through some sort of application.

When I was programming a computer game, I taught myself trigonometry in order to get time/space/distance formulas.

Higher mathematics (for me) gets boring if there is no application and that's the way it has always been for me, so the trick is to learn something that can be applied.

Something else you might consider doing is to study logic; logic and math are twins of the same mother.

Originally posted by leov
The best way to learn math is ‘HARD PRACTICE’, until you get a peculiar feeling you understand what you are doing.
At the end of the chapter, of math books, commonly, there is a long list of problems to practice and solve, and you have the chance to check your answers at the end of the book only for odds or pairs.
Go through both, no matter there would be no answers to, let’s say odds, solve them anyway.

This was never true for me, so I guess it depends on the person. I need to first understand why the methods work, before I apply them.

Originally posted by bill718
I'm pretty good at math through beginning algebra, but want to learn more. I'm a slow learner. Can someone recommend a textbook or study course, where I can learn at my own pace?😏

if it fits into a persons schedule, would be to take classes through a community college. Costs are lower, classes are generally smaller than a university and schedules are often flexible for working adults.

Another thought I had is home schooling materials. I've never personally been involved in homeschooling, but as I understand it these kids can earn a highschool diploma at home. So why couldn't someone put themselves through such a program just to learn the information? I'm sure there are lots of resources out there for this, a quick google turned up this one. [homeschoolmath.net]

Originally posted by bill718
I'm pretty good at math through beginning algebra, but want to learn more. I'm a slow learner. Can someone recommend a textbook or study course, where I can learn at my own pace?😏

Honest to God, what I did worked for me. I made up my mind that I was going to learn math and I decided I'd do whatever it took. I read, I asked questions, I did problems, I yelled at my professors, I banged my head against walls and stayed up all night until I figured out a particular concept out. I enjoyed small successes, I didn't quit on myself, and I allowed my confidence to grow. Math allowed me to push up against my intellectual limits.

The most important thing you can do is decide you're going to learn. Then you have to do three things: work, work, and work.