Letters to a Young Mathematician by Ian Stewart (PDF)

Description

The first scientific entry in the acclaimed Art of Mentoring series from Basic Books, Letters to a Young Mathematician tells readers what Ian Stewart wishes he had known when he was a student and young faculty member. Subjects ranging from the philosophical to the practical — what mathematics is and why it’s worth doing, the relationship between logic and proof, the role of beauty in mathematical thinking, the future of mathematics, how to deal with the peculiarities of the mathematical community, and many others — are dealt with in Stewart’s much-admired style, which combines subtle, easygoing humor with a talent for cutting to the heart of the matter. In the tradition of G.H. Hardy’s classic A Mathematician’s Apology, this book is sure to be a perennial favorite with students at all levels, as well as with other readers who are curious about the frequently incomprehensible world of mathematics.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This is a good book of advice to young mathematicians, it covers every aspect of a mathematician’s study, career path and aspirations. As a father of 3 teenage children, as well as a former french mathematics student (who makes a living in IT using some pathetic applied math occasionally), I am grateful for the wisdom given in this book which I can impart to my own children – should one day they tell me they want to pursue a career in mathematics. Math deserves the most gifted young students to pursue, contrary to the common ‘wisdom’ (or ‘Herd Mentality’) that Engineering, Accountancy, Law, Medicine, or Life Science which is à-la-mode in my country now, are most promising careers.Math’s beauty is in par with the Nature’s beauty. And only those who are keen to explore would be revealed the secret of the Creator. I quoted 2006-Fields Medalist Prof Terence Tao’s personal favourite algebra equation: “Sum of Cubes will always be a Square” (1^3+2^3+3^3+… + N^3) = (1+2+3…+N)^2. The secret behind this beautiful equation is “3-dimension can be reduced to 2-dimension”. Can N-dimension be reduced to (N-1) dimension in some similar way ? this is a fascinating congesture for promising mathematicians to explore and derive useful applications from it.

⭐If you have any interest in mathematics at all, you will enjoy this book. Like all of Stewart’s books on mathematics, this is well-written, understandable, and interesting. The intended audience would be high-school students who are thinking about majoring in mathematics, college students who are majoring in mathematics, and the rest of us who wish we were smart enough to have majored in mathematics.Stewart talkes broadly about what the fields of math involve, including some philosophy of mathematics, which is a fascinating field in its own right. He provides advice on what its like to study math, teach math, and above all, DO math.The only downside of this book is the high price (in the bookstore) for such a small book. PolymathInTraining practiced unaccustomed frugality by reading this entire book in the bookstore for the price of a cup of coffee. But I will purchase it when it is released in paperback.

⭐This book is a great motivational tool to make you desire to look further into math. I will definitely buy other books from Ian Stewart.

⭐This book is somewhat entertaining and a quick read, I was able to finish it in one Saturday afternoon sitting. As the first reviewer to give it 3 stars, I hope I can justify my rating.I am considering graduate school in mathematics and thought this book would help me understand that decision more. Unfortunately, the path of the Author’s “young mathematician” is a very specific and very traditional academic path. As such, the author spends more time explaining the specifics of that path and what happens during each stage (lower school, college, phd, professor, and tenured professor) rather than the decisions between each stage.Before I read the book, I knew I did not want to follow that path. I was hoping for greater insight to mathematical training and thought in other domains, but this book was lacking.I highly recommend this book for anyone considering a traditional pure mathematical education. However, the book is less useful for someone interested in math but not interested in the same path.

⭐Letters to a Young Mathematician portrays the life of a mathematician to a hypothetical young woman pursuing a career as a mathematician. The author draws on his own experience as a mathematician to regal his readers with stories from his life but also some useful insights into just what the life of a mathamatician entails. There is information about the use and misuse of computers in mathematics, a chapter on getting over fear of proofs and many others. I found the authors depiction of the career of a mathematician interesting. This book is very easy to read as it does not include much in the way of math. If you are hoping to become a mathematician this book is very useful, but if you are just hoping to learn some math look elsewhere.

⭐My 14 yr old daughter is great at math, says she doesn’t like math, and doesn’t really like to read very much. However, she’s actually enjoying this book and starting to admit she likes math. 5 stars.

⭐This is a delightful book about what it means to become and be a mathematician. It goes from giving advice to a student and then on to being a tenured professor and all the steps in between.The writing itself is clear and easy to read.I thought that many of the ideas expressed could easily apply certainly to any academic profession, but even to workers in a corporation, especially in the area of working collaboratively.I think anyone reading this book will come away enriched by the experience.

⭐I will be honest, I chose this book by chance of taking an Adolescent Literacy class. The more I read Stewart’s descriptions of various math concepts I concluded that this literature piece is appropriate for my secondary classroom. There are so many teachable moments in this book of 200 some pages; young minds, mathematicians or not, can learn so much from these “letters”. Great piece!

⭐Satisfactory service. Gave it to my son.

⭐Ian doesn’t mince his words about his career in maths, enjoyable and candid account of his career and what young budding mathematicians should look out for and respect your peers.

⭐Although the principal audience for this book are those who have a layman’s interest in Mathematics, Ian has included many insightful reflections that would benefit anyone studying or working with Mathematics.

⭐Good read.

⭐Thought provoking insight into what makes the minds of academic mathematicians tick.

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