- #1
sushifiend
- 5
- 4
In short, I'm looking to switch careers but I need to learn math from the ground up. I like the idea of physics or engineering (Specifically something related to product design). Problem is, I have a really crappy math background and need to fill in that gap in knowledge, among other things, before going back to school. I dropped out of high school in the 10th grade so I don't really know much beyond basic algebra. However I do really enjoy programming and I know java, c++, python and some web scripting languages.
Since I really enjoy programming I'm wondering if it's possible to learn math through programming? Don't get me wrong, I know I'll still have to go through math textbooks and solve each and every problem in them but I'm just curious if you can build some foundational knowledge through programming. http://projecteuler.net/ comes to mind but it doesn't provide a solid or systematic framework for learning math nor is its goal to. "The Haskel road to Logic, Maths and Programming" looks like an intriguing textbook skirting the idea of where I'm getting at.
I'm also curious if the problem solving skills you learn through programming/CS transfer over to math? I've read of a couple of cases where people who'd learned LISP breezed through previously difficult calculus courses.
ETA: Let me reformulate my question. HOW can I learn math through programming? What environments, IDEs, languages can I use so as to make my ride through math as enjoyable and engaging as possible? I plan on going through algebra I&II books, basic geometry (Harlod Jacobes, Geometry Revisited), and then onto a precalculus book (Like Serge Lang's Basic Mathematics, or the Principles of Mathematics by Oakley). But maybe it would be more fun to review certain things I learned by creating their own functions, or simulating certain physics in a program.
Since I really enjoy programming I'm wondering if it's possible to learn math through programming? Don't get me wrong, I know I'll still have to go through math textbooks and solve each and every problem in them but I'm just curious if you can build some foundational knowledge through programming. http://projecteuler.net/ comes to mind but it doesn't provide a solid or systematic framework for learning math nor is its goal to. "The Haskel road to Logic, Maths and Programming" looks like an intriguing textbook skirting the idea of where I'm getting at.
I'm also curious if the problem solving skills you learn through programming/CS transfer over to math? I've read of a couple of cases where people who'd learned LISP breezed through previously difficult calculus courses.
ETA: Let me reformulate my question. HOW can I learn math through programming? What environments, IDEs, languages can I use so as to make my ride through math as enjoyable and engaging as possible? I plan on going through algebra I&II books, basic geometry (Harlod Jacobes, Geometry Revisited), and then onto a precalculus book (Like Serge Lang's Basic Mathematics, or the Principles of Mathematics by Oakley). But maybe it would be more fun to review certain things I learned by creating their own functions, or simulating certain physics in a program.
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