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Are there other nice math books close to the style of Tristan Needham?
Hello,I'vebeenverypositivelyimpressedbyTristanNeedham'sbook"VisualComplexAnalysis",averyoriginalandatypicalmathematics
bookwhichismoreorientedtohelpingintuitionandinsightthantorigorousformalization.I'mwonderingifanybodyknowsofothernicemath
bookswhichsharethisparticularstyleofexposition.
books

mathcommunication biglist
editedJul16'10at12:22

CommunityWiki?DanRamrasJul14'10at18:54

YouSHOULDbeimpressed,Marco.It'satrulyremarkablebookthatshouldbereadbyanyoneseriouslyinterested
inanalysisorphysics,particularlyforit'shistoricalinsight.TheMathemagicianJul14'10at19:11

communitywiki
2revisions,2users
Marco100%

12 OnonehandIwantto+1becausethat'sindeedagreatbook.OntheotherhandIshouldprobably1becauseit'sa
badquestion(well,atleastaslongasit'sphrasedthewayitisandsinceit'snotcommunitywiki).SoI'lldoneither
fornow.I'lljustleavethiscomment:whilemanybookscometomind,oneparticularauthorwhohasastylesimilar
tothatofNeedham's(thatis,hisbooksarefullofintuitionandhistoricalinsight)isJohnStillwell.I'mnotgoingto
recommendaparticularbookbecausemostofthemaregreat(Isay'most'andnot'all'becauseIhaven'treadthem
all).danseeteaJul14'10at19:22

@danseeteaThesimilaritybetweenthetextsofStillwellandNeedham'smasterworkisindeedstrikingandisnotan
accident:ProfessorStillwellisacknowledgedintheintroductiontoNeedham'sbookasastronginfluenceonthe
styleofthetext.WecanalllearnagreatdealfromProfessorStillwell'stexts,emphasizingthehistorical
developmentofthegreatedificeofmathematics.TheMathemagicianJul14'10at22:32

@Davidac897Both,ideally.AstudentstrugglingwithamorerigorouspresentationsuchasAlfhorsorNarishamwill
benefittremendouslyfromthegeometricandhistoricalpresentationofthebasicsanddrawingconnectionsbetween
them.Astudentwhohasmasteredarigorouspresentationwillgainmuchdeeperinsightintowhattheabstract
construction"means".TheMathemagicianJul15'10at19:35

28Answers
JohnStillwell'srecentbookNaiveLieTheoryisamazingandinasimilarvein.Itprovidesgreat
geometricalintuitionformanyofthecommonmatrixgroups.Whatisparticularlyimpressive
aboutthisbookishowhemotivatesmorecomplicatedideas,suchasmaximaltoriiinavery
elementaryfashion.Itisperfectforundergradslookingforagoodintroduction.
editedJun30'13at14:08

communitywiki
LJ

3 Iwouldjustliketosecondthisopinion!ThereareseveralconceptsIneverentirelyunderstooduntilasinglesentence
ofStillwell'sperfectlyphrasedclearedyearsoffog.UnderstandinghowLiebracketsconnecttotheconventional
crossproductisonesuch"Oh!"moment.JosephO'RourkeJul14'10at20:48
Agreed.Thehistoricalnotesattheendofthebookareparticularlyenlightening.QiaochuYuanJul15'10at1:22
Absolutelyagreed.IalsohadthesheerpleasureofbeinglecturedbyJohnStillwellwhenhewashereinAustraliain
theearlytomid1990s:seemyansweronStillwell's"ClassicalTopologyandCombinatorialGroupTheory.
WetSavannaAnimalakaRodVanceMay23'11at7:13

Didyoufindthisquestioninteresting?Tryournewsletter
Signupforournewsletterandgetourtopnewquestions
deliveredtoyourinbox(seeanexample).

IshareyouradmirationforNeedham'sbook!OneofmyfavoritesisGeometryandthe
ImaginationbyDavidHilbertandStephanCohnVossen.Someoftheirfiguresarestunning,
almostworksofart,andofcoursealldrawnbeforecomputers!Heretheyareexplaininghow
oneellipsoid,onehyperboloidofonesheet,andonehyperboloidoftwosheets,passthrough
anypointinspace:

help


editedJul14'10at20:45

communitywiki
JosephO'Rourke

1 TheoriginalGermaneditionofthebookistruemarveltobehold(IownaRussiantranslationandhaveusedAMS
translation,buttheyarenotinthesameleague).VictorProtsakJul15'10at1:15

2 WhatIfindmindbogglingaboutmathematicsandphysicsoftimesgonebyisthestaggeringabilityofpeopletodraw,
graphandvisualiseWITHOUTCOMPUTERS.Theyeitherdiditwithsuperbinsightorwithanalmostsoulcrushing
slogofworkbothtobeadmired.MydayjobisopticalengineeringandIamputtingtogetheraLietheorytextinmy
sparetimeItrulybelievethattheonlysignificant(butabsolutelyfundamental)waymyjobswoulddifferwithout
computersisthatIwouldbelostwithouttheabilitytographandvisualisethattheygive....
WetSavannaAnimalakaRodVanceMay23'11at6:42

3 ....(Commentcontinued)ThinkofAbramowitzandStegunallthosegraphsdrawnbyhand.Or,thereisaplotofthe
radiationpatternfromaMiescatteringsphereinBornandWolf,PrinciplesofOptics.Ithasexquisitelyfinestructure
intheplot,whichwasalldonebyhandcalculation.IhadtowriteaMiescatteringsoftwarefunctiononce,andIused
BornandWolf'shandcalculationstodebugmyworkthehandcalculationswererightandIwaswrong!Itshould
havebeentheotherwayaround!!WetSavannaAnimalakaRodVanceMay23'11at6:45

I'vejustbeenreading"VisualGroupTheory"byNathanCarter.Thesimilarityoftitleto
Needham'smaybecoincidence,butthebookhasexactlythesameeffect:itSHOWSyou
WHYallthesethingsaretrue,whenconventionalproofssooftenjustTELLyouWHATistrue.
editedNov24'14at16:19

communitywiki
2revs,2users67%
Adam

MyfavoritealongwiththeVisualComplexAnalysisbyTristanNeedham
isGrad,Div,CurlandallthatbyH.M.Schey

NOTE:Alice'sAdventuresinWonderlandbyLewisCarrollisstillthebestmathematical
bookIhaveeverread.
answeredJul14'10at18:22

communitywiki
PratikDeoghare

2 ReAlice'sAdventures,youmaywanttotakealookatbl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/alice/accessible/introduction.html
AndrsCaicedoJul14'10at19:53
@AndresCaicedo:Greatlink!Thanks!PratikDeoghareJul14'10at20:41

"Indra'sPearls:TheVisionofFelixKlein"byDavidMumford,CarolinaSeriesandDavid

Wright.
Mostcertainlyvisual,thisbookisnotinthesamecategoryasmostofthebooksmentionedso
far.Infact,itdefiescategorizationatallbecauseitisacombinationofanamazinggroundlevel
introductiontogrouptheoryandamonographonShottkygroups,whichgrewoutofdesireto
findmathematicstogoalongwithstunningcomputergraphics.Andithasoutstandingcartoons
byLarryGonick.

editedJul15'10at1:24

communitywiki
2revisions,2users
JosephO'Rourke60%

Iwasn'tabletofindthepictureofthefrontcovertoembed(andDavidWright'swebsiteseemstobedown).Ifyou
knowwheretogetone,please,putitin!VictorProtsakJul15'10at1:06
Thereyougo,Victor!JosephO'RourkeJul15'10at1:25
Great,thankyouverymuch,Joseph!VictorProtsakJul15'10at2:06
Itcertainlycatchestheeyeandmademediscoverthisgreatbook,thankyou!JrmeJEANCHARLESFeb18'15
at18:03

Ihaven'treadNeedham'sbooksoI'mnottotallysurewhatyoumean,butitsoundslikeyou
mightlike"ThreeDimensionalGeometryandTopology"byBillThurstonandSilvioLevy.
answeredJul14'10at18:05

communitywiki
NoahSnyder

"MathematicalMethodsofClassicalMechanics"and"Ordinarydifferentialequations"bylate
V.I.Arnold.Inmyopinion,theseareTHEbooksforanyonewhowantstounderstand
geometrictheoryofODEs.IagreewithAndrew'scommentthough,thatthebooksmightbea
difficultreadforanundergraduate(particularly,thefirstone).
MypickforFourieranalysisis,well,"Fourieranalysis"byT.W.Krner.Verypedagogical,with
lotsofhistoricalsectionsandniceillustrations.Anditisprobablymoreinthespiritof
Needham'sbookthanthebooksbyArnold.
editedJul14'10at21:11

communitywiki
AndreyRekalo

1 Itotallyagree,butthesebooksareconsiderablyharderthenNeedham's.Butifyou'reseriousaboutunderstanding
thedeeperaspectsofthetheoryofODE's,theyareanecessity.IndeedallArnold'sbookareatestamenttooneof
thegreatmathematiciansandteachersofalltimeandhisawesomeperspectiveunifyingbothmathematicsand
physicalsciencesthroughthesharedlanguageofgeometry.TheMathemagicianJul14'10at22:34

2 "OrdinaryDifferentialEquations"istheonlyoneIhaveread,butitisamongthebestmathbooksI'vecomeacross.I
wouldn'thavecalleditdifficult,thoughArnold'sstylemakesitacomfortablereadformostgraduatestudents,I'd
say.(Itactuallymakesquitenice"pleasurereading"whenyouwantabreakfrommorestrenuousstuff.)
TomChurchJul15'10at3:05
@TomYes,forGRADUATEstudentswithverygoodcommandoflinearalgebraandbasicanalysis,yes,Iagree.But
anundergraduateunlessthey'resuperiorwillfindthemprettytough.EspeciallytheClassicalMechanicstext,whichis
clearlyagraduateleveltextbyanyone'smeasure.TheMathemagicianJul15'10at8:22
"MMCM"ismyfavouriteaswell.MichaelAug26'14at22:37

APanoramicViewofRiemannianGeometrybyMarcelBerger.

Itgetsintoquiteadvancedandsometimestechnicaltopics,butgeometricintuitionisalwaysat
thefore.Lotsofgreatpictures!Itmustbeimpossibletoreadthisbookwithoutgetting
passionatelyexcitedaboutdifferentialgeometry.Berger'sotherbooksongeometryare
similarlyoutstanding,ifmoreconventional.
answeredJul16'10at16:21

communitywiki
PerVognsen

JohnStillwell's"ClassicalTopologyandCombinatorialGroupTheory(SpringerVerlag
GraduateTextsinMathematics)".Seealsotheansweronhis"NaiveLieTheory".
IalsohadthesheerpleasureofbeinglecturedbyJohnStillwellwhenhewashereinAustralia
intheearlytomid1990s.Itookfourofhiscoursesinall,ingeneralgroupandGaloistheoryas
welltwotopics(topologyandRiemannSurfaces)whichwereverymuchsubtopicsofthe
abovebook.Ihopehewouldn'tmindmysayingthathisgiftforexplanationdidnotappear
magically:sheerhardworkwasevidentinhislecturenotesandhegavemetheimpressionof
someoneneverhappywithanexplanationasitwas,hewasalwaysstrivingforasimplerand
cleaneroneforeverythinghelectured.PerhapsamathematicalanalogueofRichardFeynman
asateacher.InhisGaloistheorylecturesIandafewotherstudentswereluckyenoughtojoin
himasfellowlearners:hewasstillgettinghislecturesstraightand,inhishonestway,warned
usthatthiswouldbethecase.Sowe"read"EmilArtin's"GaloisTheory"together.ThusIgotto
seefirsthandthestaggeringamountofworkheputintobuildinghisexplanations.
answeredMay23'11at7:12

communitywiki
WetSavannaAnimalakaRod
Vance

Inhisownwords:"IreadthebooksofEdwards,Tignol,Artin,Kaplansky,MacLaneandBirkhoffandLang,taughta
courseonGaloistheory,andthendiscarded90%ofwhatIhadlearned."from'GaloisTheoryforBeginners'.
MariusKempeSep1'13at11:26

NonlineardynamicsandchaosbyStevenStrogatz.Lotsofpictures,intutiveandclear
explanations,interestingapplications,greathumor.
answeredJul15'10at14:38

communitywiki
HansLundmark

Yes!ThisisthebookthattomecomesclosesttoVisualComplexAnalysisinspirit.dfanDec8'15at16:28

RogerPenrose'sTheRoadtoReality.NeedhamsaysinVCAthatPenrosetaughthimwhat
goodstyleis.
answeredMay22'11at18:49

communitywiki
isomorphismes

It'snotexactlyasvisualasVisualComplexAnalysis,butMichaelSpivak'sAComprehensive
IntroductiontoDifferentialGeometryhasalotofthesameappealtointuitionand
conversationalstyle.(Well,I'veonlyreadVolume1,there'satotalof5,butifthey'reanything
likeotherSpivakbooksI'veread,thisholdstrueofthemaswell).

answeredJul16'10at17:53

communitywiki
AdrianPetrescu

3 Iliketheartworkonthecoverofthesebooks!SpicetheBirdJun16'11at21:32

DavidBressoud's"ProofsandConfirmations:TheStoryoftheAlternatingSignMatrix
Conjecture"isalsowonderful.Emphasisonhowtheconjecturewasproved,andits
connectionstomanyinterestingareasofmath.
editedNov28'12at3:14

communitywiki
PeterR

2 I'monereputationpointshortofbeingallowedtoeditthepost,sohereisanitpickycommentinstead:thesubtitle
shouldbe"TheStoryoftheAlternatingSignMatrixConjecture".(AndIagreethatit'salovelybook!)
HansLundmarkJul15'10at14:30

AquiterecentbookisAdvancedCalculus:AGeometricViewbyJamesCallahan.Itisliberally
illustratedandevencontainsasectiononMorse'slemmainthechapteroncriticalpoints.Bear
inmind,though,thatthebookisnotintendedforabsolutenovicestomultivariablecalculus.
Familiaritywithbasicconceptssuchaspartialderivativesisexpected,asissomeknowledge
oflinearalgebra.
Edit:AreviewbyWilliamJ.Satzerisavailableathttp://www.maa.org/publications/maa
reviews/advancedcalculusageometricview.
editedAug2'14at20:58

communitywiki
2revs
JW

RogerGodement,Analysis,vols.ItoIV(Springer).Containsmanyinterestinghistorical,
heuristicandmotivationalcomments.IncludesseveraldetailsonBourbaki("bandemilitante")
inVol.III.Greatmathematicalcontent,plussomeprovocativethoughts.
answeredMay23'11at5:42

communitywiki
fcukier

AnotherbooktotryisMichioKuga'sGalois'Dream.Itcertainlyhasitsownuniquestyle(very
playful)butIthinkitsfocusonintuitionsetsitapartfrommanyothermathbooks.Apparentlyit
wasquiteapopculturehitinJapan!
editedJul14'10at19:44

communitywiki
DanRamras

AwonderfulbookwhichoverviewsalotofthesekindsofideasisGlimpsesofAlgebraand
GeometrybyGaborToth.Fromtheproductdescription,"ThepurposeofGlimpsesofAlgebra
andGeometryistofillagapbetweenundergraduateandgraduatemathematicsstudies.Itis
oneofthefewundergraduatetextstoexplorethesubtleandsometimespuzzlingconnections
betweennumbertheory,classicalgeometryandmodernalgebrainaclearandeasily
understandablestyle."
answeredJul15'10at9:52

communitywiki
DavidCorwin

Averygoodbookindeed.TheMathemagicianJul16'10at2:16

IfImayaddmytwocents,Iwouldaddtwomorebooksthatareanintegralpartofmylibrary,
andwhichIhavepresentlylenttoagiftedmiddleschoolstudent.Oneisthe'shapeofspace'
byJeffWeeks,andtheotheris'Symmetryofthings'byJohnConway
JeffWeek'sbookisanincrediblyenjoyableaccountofthetopologyof3manifolds.Icame
acrosssomeonementioningthelateBillThurston'sbookinthispost.WhileThurston'sbookis
definitelymorerigorous,IwouldsaythatWeek'sbookisanoverlookedclassic.Hisinvitation
toexperimentwithintuitiontoextrapolatetotheabstract,andtyinginatheoretician'smental
forayswithcosmologicalmeasurementsisquiteaneyeopener.
JohnConway'sbook,ontheotherhand,whileitshowcasessomeideasofsymmetrythrough
theworkofsomeartistslikeBathshebaGrossman,islargelyaboutabstraction.Itisamajor
work,thelatterparttechnicalenoughtochallengeandinspiremathematiciansontheforefront
oftheirfield(inhiswords,notmine!).
answeredNov10'12at7:04

communitywiki
quarkiness

DavidBressoud'sbookSecondYearCalculus:FromCelestialMechanicstoSpecialRelativity
issomethinglikeNeedham'sbook.Bothhaveanemphasisonhistoryandapplications.
answeredJul14'10at18:22

communitywiki
JohnD.Cook

1 SpeakingofBressoud,the"history+applications"threadalsorunsthroughhisotherbook"ARadicalApproachto
RealAnalysis".Itwastrulyajoytoperuse.J.M.Aug5'10at10:35

"SolidShape"byJanJ.Koenderink,MITPress
Thisisanolderbook,butithassomereallyniceapproachestothinkingaboutdifferential
geometry,andheencouragesthereadertodevelopmultipleviewsofthesubject.
http://books.google.com.au/books/about/Solid_Shape.html?id=pIyNQwAACAAJ
This,Indra'sPearlsandNeedhamaremyalltimefavoritemathematicaltomes,andIreturnto
themregularly.
answeredMay24'12at7:10

communitywiki
StuartRamsden

TheShapeofAlgebrainTheMirrorsofMathematicsbyG.KatzandV.
Nodelman
and
TheWildWorldof4ManifoldsbyAlexandruScorpan
editedNov27'12at23:48

communitywiki
3revisions

Istronglyrecommend"TheEssenceofChaos"byEdwardNLorenz.Notonlyconsiderable
historicalbackground,butawonderfuldiscussionofchaos,auniqueandrealisticmodel
developmentandclassicmodels.Allwithoutdeepmathematics,butdetailedsothatonecan
programhismodelofasledonasnowcoveredhillwithmoguls.Atrueclassicthatshouldbe
oneverybookshelf(afterhavingreaditindepth!)

answeredDec24'13at20:21

communitywiki
user44641

Evenmorevisual,evenlessformal,is"Dynamics,theGeometryofBehavior,"byRalph
AbrahamandChrisShaw.Ifindtheapproachveryusefulforadifficultsubject,howeverit
needstobesupplementedwithmorerigorousmaterial.
AdigitaleditioncanbepurchasedthroughAerialPresshttp://www.aerialpress.com
answeredJan16'14at18:00

communitywiki
Pait

AllYouWantedtoKnowAboutMathematicsbutWereAfraidtoAsk:MathematicsforScience
StudentsbyLouisLyons
Heexplainssomebasictopicsthatsciencestudentsneedtoknow.Excellentexplanation,
extremelyintuitiveandbeautiful.Tooelementaryformostreadersofthisthread,butagood
readforanadvancedhighschoolstudent/beginningundergrad.
answeredJul16'10at2:07

communitywiki
Rune

FromGeometryToTopologybyH.GrahamFlegg
Thisbookexplainssomebasictopologicalconceptsusingalotofexamplesandithasquitea
lotofpictures.Infact,itisratherhardtofindasinglepagethathasnopicturesinit.Verygood
forintuitionindeed.AndalsoverycheapsinceitisaDoverreprint.
answeredJul16'10at17:44

communitywiki
AdrinBarquero

Youcouldseethisbookasagentlewarmuptotopology,whichpurposeitfulfilsadmirably.Bytheway,Iwasamused
toreadinChapter8thatthefourcolourtheoremhadneverbeenproved.Ofcourse,sincethebookwasoriginally
publishedin1974.JWMar17'13at14:35

ParallelCoordinates:VisualMultidimensionalGeometryanditsApplicationsbyAlfred
Inselberg
HasbeenpraisedbyStephenHawkingandothers
http://www.amazon.com/ParallelCoordinatesMultidimensionalGeometry
Applications/dp/0387215077
Thebarrier,imposedbyourthreedimensionalhabitationandperceptualexperience,hasbeen
breachedbythisinnovativeandversatilemethodology.Therearebeautifulvisualsof
multidimensionalobjectsandinsightsintomultidimensionalproblems:AirTraffic,DataMining,
IntelligentProcessControl
answeredFeb11'13at14:20

communitywiki
AlfredInselberg

ifyouareinterestedindynamicalsystems/oscillators/differentialequations,Pikovsky's
Synchronization:AUniversalConceptinNonlinearSciencesisverywellwritten.
alttext
answeredJul15'10at2:14

communitywiki
SandeepJ

HowNottoBeWrong:thePowerofMathematicalThinkingbyJordanEllenbergPenguin
Press,2014isawonderful,easilyreadexpositiononsubjectssuchasstatisticalanalysisfora
widevarietyofexamples.Alsoalotofhistory.Surprisingandclearlywritten.
answeredAug26'14at21:53

communitywiki
user44641

1 I'msureit'sagoodbook,butthatisnotwhatthisquestionisaskingforYemonChoiAug26'14at21:55
1 "atypicalmathematicsbookwhichismoreorientedtohelpingintuitionandinsightthantorigorousformalization.I'm
wonderingifanybodyknowsofothernicemathbookswhichsharethisparticularstyleofexposition".thisisjust
whatEllenberg'sbookisabout.user44641Aug26'14at22:00