Mathematics

Mathematics (from Greek μάθημα máthēma, “knowledge, study, learning”) is the study of topics such as quantity (numbers), structure, space, and change.

Mathematicians seek out patterns and use them to formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proof. When mathematical structures are good models of real phenomena, then mathematical reasoning can provide insight or predictions about nature. Through the use of abstraction and logic, mathematics developed from counting, calculation, measurement, and the systematic study of the shapes and mo ...more

Most Read This Week Tagged "Mathematics"

On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything

Very Bad at Math (A Very Graphic Novel #1)

The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion

Everything Is Predictable: How Bayesian Statistics Explain Our World

Making Numbers Count: The Art and Science of Communicating Numbers

Notes on Complexity: A Scientific Theory of Connection, Consciousness, and Being

The Woman All Spies Fear: Code Breaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman and Her Hidden Life

The Secret Lives of Numbers: A Hidden History of Math's Unsung Trailblazers

The Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything (Abridged): Adventures in Math and Science

Is Maths Real? How Simple Questions Lead Us to Mathematics’ Deepest Truths

Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI

In a Flight of Starlings: The Wonder of Complex Systems

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Mathematics Books

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking

How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method (Princeton Science Library)

The Joy of X: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity

Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe

More mathematics books...

Lists

Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel C. Dennett

Sam Harris' Recommended Reading

190 books — 65 voters

The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman

Mathematics in the Title

249 books — 27 voters

Linear Algebra Done Right by Sheldon Axler

Principles of Mathematical Analysis by Walter Rudin

Real and Complex Analysis by Walter Rudin

The Princeton Companion to Mathematics by Timothy Gowers

Mathematics · Computer Science · Statistical Science · Machine Learning

143 books — 30 voters

Visual Complex Analysis by Tristan Needham

Mathematics and Its History by John Stillwell

Mathematics Books That Don't Suck

74 books — 49 voters

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars by Jim Paul

The (Mis)Behavior of Markets by Benoît B. Mandelbrot

Nassim Nicholas Taleb Book Recommendations

88 books — 49 voters

Punctuation Takes a Vacation by Robin Pulver

Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi by Cindy Neuschwander

Who Pooped in Central Park? Scat and Tracks for Kids by Gary D. Robson

Educational Children's Fiction Books

318 books — 87 voters

Featured News & Interviews

Personality Picks! 136 Book Recommendations for (Nearly) Every Type of Reader

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Quotes Tagged “Mathematics”

“ [The Old Astronomer to His Pupil] Reach me down my Tycho Brahe, I would know him when we meet, When I share my later science, sitting humbly at his feet; He may know the law of all things, yet be ignorant of how We are working to completion, working on from then to now. Pray remember that I leave you all my theory complete, Lacking only certain data for your adding, as is meet, And remember men will scorn it, 'tis original and true, And the obloquy of newness may fall bitterly on you. But, my [The Old Astronomer to His Pupil] Reach me down my Tycho Brahe, I would know him when we meet, When I share my later science, sitting humbly at his feet; He may know the law of all things, yet be ignorant of how We are working to completion, working on from then to now. Pray remember that I leave you all my theory complete, Lacking only certain data for your adding, as is meet, And remember men will scorn it, 'tis original and true, And the obloquy of newness may fall bitterly on you. But, my pupil, as my pupil you have learned the worth of scorn, You have laughed with me at pity, we have joyed to be forlorn, What for us are all distractions of men's fellowship and smiles; What for us the Goddess Pleasure with her meretricious smiles. You may tell that German College that their honor comes too late, But they must not waste repentance on the grizzly savant's fate. Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night. What, my boy, you are not weeping? You should save your eyes for sight; You will need them, mine observer, yet for many another night. I leave none but you, my pupil, unto whom my plans are known. You 'have none but me,' you murmur, and I 'leave you quite alone'? Well then, kiss me, -- since my mother left her blessing on my brow, There has been a something wanting in my nature until now; I can dimly comprehend it, -- that I might have been more kind, Might have cherished you more wisely, as the one I leave behind. I 'have never failed in kindness'? No, we lived too high for strife,-- Calmest coldness was the error which has crept into our life; But your spirit is untainted, I can dedicate you still To the service of our science: you will further it? you will! There are certain calculations I should like to make with you, To be sure that your deductions will be logical and true; And remember, 'Patience, Patience,' is the watchword of a sage, Not to-day nor yet to-morrow can complete a perfect age. I have sown, like Tycho Brahe, that a greater man may reap; But if none should do my reaping, 'twill disturb me in my sleep So be careful and be faithful, though, like me, you leave no name; See, my boy, that nothing turn you to the mere pursuit of fame. I must say Good-bye, my pupil, for I cannot longer speak; Draw the curtain back for Venus, ere my vision grows too weak: It is strange the pearly planet should look red as fiery Mars,-- God will mercifully guide me on my way amongst the stars. ...more ”
― Sarah Williams, Twilight Hours: A Legacy of Verse

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“ Too large a proportion of recent "mathematical" economics are mere concoctions, as imprecise as the initial assumptions they rest on, which allow the author to lose sight of the complexities and interdependencies of the real world in a maze of pretentious and unhelpful symbols. ...more ”
― John Maynard Keynes

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