It is also important to look for primers from multiple decades because what sometimes can be confusing is the current state of the art, thesis papers (PhD students are struggling to learn it the first time too, but often they hold the complete supporting material with references), and the original paper for the field.
True, but the fly-in-the-ointment here is that sometimes notation changes over the years, and comparing papers / textbooks across textbooks can add even more cognitive overhead in that sense. :-(
I agree but if you get enough books in the same area you can start to figure out the mapping. Even books released in the same subfield at the same time can have wildly different notation and only by having enough references can you have a chance.
True, but the fly-in-the-ointment here is that sometimes notation changes over the years, and comparing papers / textbooks across textbooks can add even more cognitive overhead in that sense. :-(