I’m gentle with you in this course. There is really only one book you need to read as a required text. One of the nice things about math is the density of information in our written materials. But that’s not to say that JTG is the end-all-be-all of good mathematical writing. Publishers have been much more willing to take a chance on this nerdy stuff this last decade than when I was young, and as a result, there is a ton of even better stuff out there to find (To tell the truth, I don’t keep JTG because it is still comparatively good, but because it fits a good pedagogical structure for a course like this).
I hope that this course and JTG can open the door to a new world. Not just to other math books, but all sorts of expressions of mathematical ideas. Below is a small sample of what may lie on the other side of that open door for you.
Folder of many math readings, including JTG
Mathy stuff on the web
XKCD – Super awesome webcomic. Frequent math/science/computer themes. Evidence too that you don’t have to draw more than stick figures to create art that people love.
What if – Impromptiu applied mathematics blog. By Randall Munroe, author of XKCD.
Hans Rosling’s TED talks – Human Geography and stats. One of the best presenters I know. Watch them in order. If you don’t cry when you watch the washing machine one…
Vi Hart – Mathematical curiosity blog. Very popular among the nerd kids.
3Blue1Brown – Math explanations and very clean animations. Beyond ordinary topics but related to the stuff you heard about in school
Numberphile – Expositions and Interviews with mathematicians about strange bits of math.
Math books you might like
How to Count (Programming for Mere Mortals vol. 1) – Steven Frank.
Math Writing relevant to the material in JTG
A few hints on ruler and compass constructions
Book 1 of Introduction to Analysis of the Infinite – Euler. The progenitor of the Calculus textbook you have today. Not any different in many important ways and written in 1748.
English translation of Newton’s Principia with a fairly extensive introduction and commentary.
Newton’s Optiks. Another super influential work. It is in English as an original. I do not know if this is a scan of a first printing.
Notice, our great theorem comes not from the Principia but rather from Methodus Fluxionum et Serierum Infinitarum. The pdf is here, also in English translation. Our result on the approximation of π by plugging into a fluxion of an infinite series is on pages 93-95 (sections 45-49).
More about our fictional works
Schoght on Wild Numbers at the arxiv. The author of one of our frequently used fictional works discusses the origin of his story in a pdf posted at the arxiv. If you don’t yet know about the arxiv, that may be as interesting as finding out where Wild Numbers came from or maybe more. Why would he post it there?
