Waldsassen Abbey Library in Bavaria, Germany

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@coffes0ul
Waldsassen Abbey Library in Bavaria, Germany
Hello! for the longest time I've thought that I'm just "not good" at math, and that I'm just a creative type or something, but for the past few years I've been trying to brute-force my way through math drills and stuff to improve because I want to go into a STEM field. I've found that it doesn't work. I have, however, gained a kind of Stockholm syndrome for math, and I find myself wanting to know *more*. I feel like I'm missing out on something way beyond myself but idk where to even find that. So here i am. Asking a blog on tumblr for the secret math knowledge. If you have any resources that i could read about math that isn't just "here's how to do this" i would really appreciate it!!!
First of all, complete props to you for giving something that doesn't initially appeal to you, in this case, maths, a chance. Mathematics can be frustrating and even annoying, being an oftentimes nit-picky field. You can quickly realize that these are also the traits that grant the satisfaction and euphoria of mathematics. So don't forget to be proud of yourself for not disregarding mathematics as a whole and actually giving it a go.
Second of all, creativity is very necessary for maths. It is a shame that the educational system doesn't do maths justice (A Mathematician's LamentĀ by Paul Lockhart is exactly about this). Mathematics is presented as something mechanical, force-feeding formulas and having students repeat them to find adequate results. That is not a fair portrayal of mathematics.
Different people will have different conceptions of what the learning of mathematics is or should be - I mean, for god's sake, mathematics hasn't even been defined properly and one expects people to know what to do with it. I can only tell you what I conceptualize mathematics, and its learning, to be. For me, mathematics is the boring work of examining multiple results and cases of the same formulas, it is the finding of patterns and attempting generalizations, it's the excited scribbles of formulas and the necessity of looking at a particular scenario from multiple perspectives. Most likely, the generalizations won't come easily, a minus sign will be forgotten making the following calculations obsolete, an approach to a problem will prove fruitless, and laborious work will be done only to find out there was a specific theorem that would have shortened the whole process. Patience is required for maths, and hopefully, you can now see that creativity is too, there is no shortcut to knowing where to look or what technique to utilize. As is the case with most worthwhile pursuits, and as you know from experience, mathematics is endlessly frustrating, but that also means it is endlessly fun.
Now, I do not have any secret math knowledge (or do I), what I can do is present you with some things that fascinate me and have led me to love mathematics as much as I do, outside of the conventional mathematics curriculum.Ā
Maths really comes down to practice, practice, practice... as many other things. I heavily encourage you to start playing around with mathematics a little bit. Olympiad mathematics kind of do that, (I, very conveniently, have a lot of posts about that.) as do many other math competitions. Maybe try out some exercises from your national olympiad and, with no judgment, because this is just to have fun, play around a bit. Disregarding the conventional maths you know, test out your logic, laugh at mistakes and losses of time, and feel that happy rush when a conjecture you reach, or part of it, is correct.
In terms of the resources, I opted for a mix of funny math history moments and some actual mathematics, in no particular order. Prepare for confusion.Ā ā
Adding on: one of my favourite funny maths is the pizza theorem!
Adding on some stuff:
try reading Math Girls by Hiroshi Yuki (MAA review here). it's basically like a novel combined with a math textbook lol. you can kind of see the process of "doing math."
I don't know where you are in terms of math level, but I recommend reading math textbooks (and doing the exercises of course!) I particularly recommend Linear Algebra Done Right by Sheldon Axler, a very pure math-y/proof-based treatment of linear algebra. It doesn't sound like you're going into pure mathematics, but I think it gives a different perspective than how it's usually taught (because the author is really afraid of determinants /j). Also the proofs are easier to follow than many other textbooks and the exercises are doable. There isn't much prerequisite knowledge as far as I can remember (besides like high-school-level algebra and understanding proofs I guess).
see the PROMYS reading list
some other math youtube channels:
Tibees
Michael Penn
can't remember anything else right now. Anyway, hope this helps!
Manuscript of Bram Stokerās Dracula playscript, from 1897.
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ATONEMENT (2007) DIR. JOE WRIGHT
Waiting. Simply one person doing nothing, over time, while another approached.
Tim Walker, āInside/Outside, Eglingham Hall, Northumberland, EnglandāĀ
©Tim Walker, Dreamscapes at The Bowes Museum
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Alice AuaaĀ Fall/Winter 2013 at Tokyo Fashion Week
by Evgeniy Malykhanov
Laura Makabresku - 2018 Suspiria, dir. Luca Guadagnino - 2018Ā Needle Lace Pattern - 17th CenturyĀ Laura Makabresku, Heartbeat - 2021
HiĀ Iām Mayticks, an artist from Australia who loves to draw women loving women. Iām here for group projects, community art work and having Big Gay Feelings over fictional characters. Shop Etsy Social Media Twitter Instagram
āDeath-Fires Danced at Nightā, from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner for The Blue Poetry Book by Lancelot Speed (1891)
iāve been playing adorable home for 2 days and iām obsessed
that looks so cozy!!! š„ŗšæ
Cottage in the Forest, Hubert Robert, 1796-97
1910s Dress
silk, chiffon, satin
(ANTZASTI Euskaldunon Etxea Museum)
this lesbian love note in a thrifted book has overcome me like it really is all about love it has always been and will always be