Street-Fighting Mathematics (2008)

(ocw.mit.edu)

27 points | by mpweiher 8 hours ago

6 comments

  • rm445 3 hours ago
    I've read this book. It's definitely one of the more interesting and readable maths texts out there. I wasn't exactly sure I'd use the methods. Working as a mechanical engineer I probably go straight to numerical methods, or approximate things even more crudely and approximately than a mathematician's 'rough' work. Though "replace a complicated function with a rectangle" definitely resonated. Overall the impression was that it was full of great techniques for mathematicians and scientists puzzling out every bit of meaning they can from a situation whose true features aren't yet known.
  • stmw 5 hours ago
    This is a good book. Also, any time this kind of book becomes available (be it a 100 year old one or a new one), it is worth looking into - great improvements in isnight and simplicity are possible above the "baseline" of US math education today.

    So for example, I posit that the engineers or scientists you might admire from the 1950's didn't learn calculus or linear algebra the way you did.

    • gpcz 4 hours ago
      Feynman learned calculus from the textbook "Calculus for the Practical Man".
  • brennanpeterson 4 hours ago
    I also quite liked https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/res-6-011-the-art-of-insight-in-...

    Which is, I think, the successor and quite useful.

  • nutjob2 4 hours ago
  • groundzeros2015 2 hours ago
    Another book title aimed at getting people who haven’t read their pile of books to buy another.
  • NooneAtAll3 4 hours ago
    what is it about?

    how to distribute fighters so that your team defeats-in-detail your opponents?

    • slow_typist 4 hours ago
      It is about useful tricks you can usually not learn in university classes.