Transcript of an instagram reel by Kyne
So you're interested in math, but you don't really know what kind of math you like best yet, or what you can even really do with a math degree? I have a math degree, let me give you some of my book recommendations to get you started!
Algorithms to Live By is great inspiration for going into computer science and programming. It's all about taking computer algorithms like sorting, scheduling, optimal stopping, and using those to optimize your daily life. If you're someone who likes thinking through decisions really logically and efficiently, this might appeal to you.
Code is a book about how a computer actually works, which is so interesting. Like, how we go from electrons running through a wire to zeroes and ones, and how does that translate into memory and logic and information?
Against the Gods is all about risk. Just think about how crazy it is that we can quantify something as abstract as risk into numbers and be really good at it. If you wanna know whether it's gonna rain tomorrow or whether a certain decision is gonna have a positive or negative effect on the stock market, we no longer have to consult oracles or prophets, we can use numbers and science. And the biggest application of this is finance and insurance.
The Code Book is all about the history and science of secrecy. Humans have always needed a way to store or send secrets, whether it's military information or just your personal data, and that evolved into the modern practice of cryptography.
If you're interested in studying math for math's own sake, then a great resource is The Princeton Companion to Mathematics. This is like a zoomed out bird's eye view of all of math. It's as if somebody took all the math articles on Wikipedia, made them easier to understand, and gave the broader context to how it all fits together. My dream is to one day be able to understand 10% of this book.
Another book that's kinda similar and much less expensive is Thomas Garrity's All the Math you Missed but Need to Know for Graduate School. I got this for myself cause I've been thinking about going to graduate school and it's really been a great resource. It summarizes everything that you would encounter in an undergraduate math program from linear algebra, calculus, analysis, abstract algebra, topology...
What I really like about this book is it also gives the broader context and the history of how these subjects all fit together, cause when you're in school you don't really understand what you're even studying or what the point of it all is, but this gives that zoomed out picture.
Just start by picking whatever of these topics interests you the most, and start thinking of kind of problems you wanna solve and how you wanna contribute to the world. Like do you wanna solve theoretical problems about the distribution of prime numbers, or are you more interested in solving real-world problems like making the interest safer or forecasting the future.
It's okay to not know what you wanna do. I think the best way to set yourself up for success right now is to invest in yourself and teach yourself new skills and new subjects. Doesn't even have to cost money, it just costs time and effort, which I know not everybody has right now. But I believe in you, and you just need to believe in yourself, that you are capable of doing anything you set your mind to.
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