
Ask HN: Say you know no math, how would you go from zero to calc in one year? - TheOneWhoAsks
Is that even possible?
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dalke
Perhaps, but unlikely. There are many levels of "know no math." I used to
tutor math at a university. There were some people who had difficulty with
pre-algebra, as in "simplify 4 + 5x + 2 + 3x". If you don't know how to add
two things together, then that's different than someone who can do grade
school arithmetic, but that latter is certainly more than "no math."

What do you mean by "calc"? It's a broad category with several centuries of
formalization behind it. Basic concepts of summation leading to integration,
like what Euclid did in ancient Greece, or differentiation as the slope of a
line, can be learned after a college algebra course. But at that point the
calculus is pretty hand-wavy. A more serious understanding depends on more
rigorous formalisms, like epsilon-delta proofs.

So I would go there by trying to figure out if there's a specific goal in
mind, or a bare minimum of what counts as sufficient understanding. I would
also figure out if "one year" means 5 minutes per day on average, or 6 hours
per day.

There are also any number of books that teach calculus to the mathematically
inexperience. However, I have no experience with them.

~~~
TheOneWhoAsks
I would like to say I'm trying to help a close friend who seriously lacks math
skills. He knows your everyday arithmetic but no algebra whatsoever. I
understand algebra but haven't done anything calc related. He said he wants to
be able to learn calculus (I guess whats presented in a typical first year of
calc in college). He has a lot of time on his hands and he wants to dedicate
that to studying, about 12 hrs (6hrs in the morning, 6 in the afternoon). He's
a junior in HS.

~~~
Someone
_" He said he wants to be able to learn calculus"_

If he doesn't know anything about calculus, it is unlikely that is his true
goal. You should probe him to find out what he thinks knowing calculus will
bring him. Does he want to program games? Get a good score for math in school?
Did his parents promise him a car if he does well in school?

 _" (I guess what's presented in a typical first year of calc in college)."_

I rest my case :-) if your guess turns out to be wrong, your help may teach
him calculus, but won't make him happy.

 _" He's a junior in HS."_

I don't understand. If he is a junior in high school, he should already know
quite a bit of math, shouldn't he? What am I overlooking?

And those 12 hours, is that per day or per week?

~~~
TheOneWhoAsks
He's a weird case where our education system here kept passing him even though
he was failing math classes. He now cares and is trying to catch up. Thats
12hrs a day btw.

~~~
dalke
12hrs a day for a year? With no other education or pursuits? If he's a junior
then doesn't he need his senior year to graduate?

(I know there are exceptions, like entering college early without a HS degree,
or dropping out of HS upon reaching sufficient age. I assume this is one of
them.)

It's very hard to offer any sort of guidance. It sounds very much like biting
off more than he can chew. I was good at math, but even with years of math
classes I found the first semester of calculus to be tough going. (It was an
odd thing; I didn't understand the midterm that well, but within a couple of
weeks it was all clear.)

There are certainly people who just sit down and work through math problems.
Dirac, for example, worked through math problems for his holidays. Ramanujan
learned math almost entirely on his own.

But these are the exceptions by far.

Okay, so my suggestion is to go to a nearby college and ask for advice from
the undergraduate math adviser.

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AnimalMuppet
I think that no, it's not possible - not if by "no math" you mean "can't add".
Even if you mean "can add, subtract, multiply, and divide, but can't do
algebra", it would be very hard.

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strommen
No math like a 2-year-old? Or just simple arithmetic? Programming knowledge?

~~~
TheOneWhoAsks
The person knows simple arithmetic and enjoys programming in python.

~~~
strommen
Then absolutely. Understanding functions is the biggest mental obstacle to
calculus, and as programmers we already do that.

