

Math Books for CS Undergrads - sebkom

Ok, basically the situation is like this: I am one of the millions of students that hated mathematics to death while in high school but want to study computer science. As a result of this passionate hate I now find myself in university and although I can deal with the math of the course I really want to get a better understanding of most of the concepts and ideas in discrete mathematics, linear agebra, number theory, etc. However, it sounds ineffective that I just pick a subject, go to wikipedia, read about that, pick another subject, do the same, and so on. So, what I am asking is suggestions for books covering the concepts that a person who wants to understand maths better needs to be ok with.
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stavrianos
Of the math textbooks I've used, two've been good enough to keep so far:

Linear Algebra: [http://www.amazon.ca/Linear-Algebra-Applications-CD-ROM-
Upda...](http://www.amazon.ca/Linear-Algebra-Applications-CD-ROM-
Update/dp/0321287134/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240189413&sr=8-1)

Calculus: [http://www.amazon.ca/Calculus-Early-Transcendentals-Tools-
En...](http://www.amazon.ca/Calculus-Early-Transcendentals-Tools-
Enriching/dp/0534393217/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240189487&sr=1-2)

on the more computer-sciency side, Introduction to Algorithms has a lot of
good word-of-mouth. I'm not such a fan, myself, but here it is:
[http://www.amazon.ca/Introduction-Algorithms-Thomas-H-
Cormen...](http://www.amazon.ca/Introduction-Algorithms-Thomas-H-
Cormen/dp/0262032937/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240189615&sr=1-1)

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tokenadult
It depends what level you are already on. At some point, you might like to
read Concrete Mathematics: A Foundation for Computer Science

[http://www.amazon.com/Concrete-Mathematics-Foundation-
Comput...](http://www.amazon.com/Concrete-Mathematics-Foundation-Computer-
Science/dp/0201558025/)

which is an enjoyable book, but which presupposes a fairly strong background
in math.

An easier book that is good preparation for computer science is Mathematics: A
Discrete Introduction,

[http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Discrete-Introduction-
Edwa...](http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Discrete-Introduction-Edward-
Scheinerman/dp/0534398987/)

which is very readable and full of information that will get you ready for
computer science concepts and for other math reading.

After edit:

Browse the books on this bibliography page

<http://olympiads.win.tue.nl/imo/books.html>

for lots of suggestions compiled by someone deeply interested in computer
science.

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adamo
The width of the question makes it a tough one. I am lucky enough to have a
mathematics professor one phone call away. You will find spending hours in
your University's library rewarding. Start with a good book on discrete
mathematics and move on from there. A good book is the one for which you can
have someone explain your questions (meaning the one that your professor
proposes).

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vlad
Just read this:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=560045>

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sebkom
Thanks for the recommendations, trully appreciated!

