ratfactor reviewed Mind Tools by Rudy Rucker
Review of 'Mind Tools' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Rucker rules! As a math noob, this has been very insightful and helpful, not because I'm going to be able to rush out and use any of the information here (like I've been able to with my recent incursions into linear algebra), but because it completely opened my eyes to the connections between various branches of "higher mathematics." Beyond that, it's been a taste of what it's like to actually THINK about mathematical concepts beyond what I have thought about before (which is basic computation and a tiny bit of number theory).
Bonus points for helping me finally start to grasp logarithms and what they might be for, which is a subject that has frustrated me to no end since the "Big O" notation (classifying the rate at which an algorithm will expend resources as you increase the number of things you shove into it) in computer science. And …
Rucker rules! As a math noob, this has been very insightful and helpful, not because I'm going to be able to rush out and use any of the information here (like I've been able to with my recent incursions into linear algebra), but because it completely opened my eyes to the connections between various branches of "higher mathematics." Beyond that, it's been a taste of what it's like to actually THINK about mathematical concepts beyond what I have thought about before (which is basic computation and a tiny bit of number theory).
Bonus points for helping me finally start to grasp logarithms and what they might be for, which is a subject that has frustrated me to no end since the "Big O" notation (classifying the rate at which an algorithm will expend resources as you increase the number of things you shove into it) in computer science. And for Rucker's fearless use of ordinary conversational English and his humble and honest opinions.
Oh, and additional bonus points for being able to tie the five subjects together in a way that really did have lightbulbs going off in my head. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a taste of the interesting mathematical fields and how they relate!
Also, a little shocking fact: this book helped me realize that I actually do not enjoy mathematical logic. Which is bizarre since I'm a computer guy and computers are, at the circuit level, nothing but logic. Hmm.
