• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 16:15
CEST 22:15
KST 05:15
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash8[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy16ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book20
Community News
Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple6Aligulac acquired by REPLAYMAN.com/Stego Research8Weekly Cups (March 16-22): herO doubles, Cure surprises3Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool49Weekly Cups (March 9-15): herO, Clem, ByuN win4
StarCraft 2
General
What mix of new & old maps do you want in the next ladder pool? (SC2) Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy Aligulac acquired by REPLAYMAN.com/Stego Research Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple herO wins SC2 All-Star Invitational
Tourneys
RSL Season 4 announced for March-April Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament StarCraft Evolution League (SC Evo Biweekly) WardiTV Mondays World University TeamLeague (500$+) | Signups Open
Strategy
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Frigid Storage Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026]
External Content
Mutation # 519 Inner Power The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 518 Radiation Zone Mutation # 517 Distant Threat
Brood War
General
Gypsy to Korea ASL21 General Discussion How Can I Add Timer & APM Count? A cwal.gg Extension - Easily keep track of anyone BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/
Tourneys
Azhi's Colosseum - Foreign KCM Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Ro24 Group F
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game General RTS Discussion Thread Darkest Dungeon
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Canadian Politics Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT] Tokyo Olympics 2021 Thread General nutrition recommendations
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Money Laundering In Video Ga…
TrAiDoS
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
FS++
Kraekkling
Shocked by a laser…
Spydermine0240
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1703 users

Math textbooks!

Blogs > Xeris
Post a Reply
1 2 3 Next All
Xeris
Profile Blog Joined July 2005
Iran17695 Posts
June 19 2010 07:02 GMT
#1
Hallo hallo TL! This summer I want to work on math, and in general I just want to keep a good stock of books handy for whatever occasion. I know math alright, but I really want to solidify my knowledge and work through all the maths again. Next year I want to try and tackle game theory, but in order to do that my math skills need to improve quite a bit. I also want to learn physics a bit more, but again, need to brush up on my more basic math.

So what I'm looking for are the following:

- GOOD Geometry textbook
- GOOD Algebra textbook
- GOOD Trigonometry/Precalc textbook
- GOOD Calculus textbook

Ideally, a "GOOD" textbook will cover all the main topics, have good explanations, good examples, and plenty of practice problems.

I work at my high school, but I think the text books there are horrible. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the Calc and Precalc book I used at UCSD, so give me some suggestions on good books to get!

Thanks TL!

twitter.com/xerislight -- follow me~~
illu
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
Canada2531 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-06-19 07:13:21
June 19 2010 07:07 GMT
#2
I don't think Game Theory uses any of the topics you mentioned above.

Anyways, at University of Toronto, the standard calculus book is by James Stewart. He also has another book on pre-calculus. You should be able to pirate these off someone easily.

If you want to learn physics, it might be better to learn some linear algebra. A pretty simple and well-written book is by Fraleigh and Beauregard. The one by Kolman and Hill is OK too.

These will take you.... at least 6 months to learn properly. If you are still motivated by then, learn vector calculus. Marsden seems to be pretty popular, but I can't promise its readability.
:]
Gatsbi
Profile Joined April 2010
United States1134 Posts
June 19 2010 07:09 GMT
#3
Game Theory is mostly Probability/Statistics and a little bit of Calculus.. I took it at UCSD.
"IF WHAT YOU DO NOT KNOW IS MORE THAN WHAT YOU HAVE KNOWN. THEN YOU HAVE NOT KNOWN ANYTHINIG YET." - Rev Kojo Smith
illu
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
Canada2531 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-06-19 07:14:09
June 19 2010 07:13 GMT
#4
On June 19 2010 16:09 Gatsbi wrote:
Game Theory is mostly Probability/Statistics and a little bit of Calculus.. I took it at UCSD.

That's what I thought, too. The topics OP had in mind are too rudimentary.
:]
Gatsbi
Profile Joined April 2010
United States1134 Posts
June 19 2010 07:15 GMT
#5
And if Herb Newhouse is teaching it, I recommend waiting till another quarter, that guy sucks at teaching and it's not one of the easiest econ classes.
"IF WHAT YOU DO NOT KNOW IS MORE THAN WHAT YOU HAVE KNOWN. THEN YOU HAVE NOT KNOWN ANYTHINIG YET." - Rev Kojo Smith
sOvrn
Profile Joined April 2010
United States678 Posts
June 19 2010 07:24 GMT
#6
Instead of books, maybe video lectures can be helpful to you. I know my little sister had a great experience using videos from the teaching company. They are pricey (around $100 or less) but worth the investment.

I bought one of the lectures on economics and thought the teaching style was superb, although the professor changes according to lecture. Google: the teaching company.
My favorites: Terran - Maru // Protoss - SoS // Zerg - soO ~~~ fighting!
Empyrean
Profile Blog Joined September 2004
17053 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-06-19 07:43:11
June 19 2010 07:42 GMT
#7
Get a good linear algebra book, a calculus-based probability book, a statistics text (won't be using this much), and a book that touches on discrete mathematics and maaaaybe some analysis.

You're not going to be learning game theory with only up to calc 2 lol.

Edit: By calculus-based I mean past the level of third semester calculus (basic vector calculus...think things like Stokes' Theorem and shit taught at universities).
Moderator
crumunch
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
United States54 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-06-19 08:31:48
June 19 2010 08:30 GMT
#8
http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Store/index.php

I'd say these books are probably some of the best out there.

However, I think that their Calculus book only goes up to what would be considered Calc II. But in general all of these books are aimed towards those who really want to understand what they're learning, instead of just memorizing.
Come join me in the spiral
Caller
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
Poland8075 Posts
June 19 2010 08:34 GMT
#9
afaik we have two game theory courses

one is pop game theory and requires basic stat and calc

the other requires real analysis

choose wisely
Watch me fail at Paradox: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=397564
Plexa
Profile Blog Joined October 2005
Aotearoa39261 Posts
June 19 2010 08:38 GMT
#10
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-06-linear-algebra-spring-2005/video-lectures/

Amazing series of lectures on linear algebra, although not a text book, should help solidify concepts (and is just generally really interesting!).
Administrator~ Spirit will set you free ~
excelZerg
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Canada69 Posts
June 19 2010 08:39 GMT
#11
have you looked at the stuff at http://www.khanacademy.org/ ? not textbooks but its a bunch of short instructional videos on a variety of subjects ive only looked at a handful of them so im not sure if he goes to the depth that you would want but it might be worth checking out.
Fifthman
Profile Joined September 2009
United States11 Posts
June 19 2010 08:49 GMT
#12
I agree with illu; a good reference text specifically for calculus would be Calculus Early Transcendentals by James Stewart. It covers all the topics needed up to third semester calculus, and gives a variety of problems for each given topic. Some copies include a very handy set of cheat sheets which contain derivative and integral tables as well as trig tables.

If you're looking to learn physics, the text I like to use is Physics for Scientists and Engineers by Serway. It'll cover most calculus based lower division physics. If you're looking to stretch your legs a bit further into classical mechanics, look up Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems by Thornton and Marion, although I wouldn't recommend this particular book until you understand multivariable calculus. If you're looking for other good physics resources, look up http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html for a quick reference page.

For linear algebra, Kenneth Kutler's pages look pretty helpful. The linear algebra notes in particular look promising. http://www.math.byu.edu/~klkuttle/0000ElemLinearalgebratoprint.pdf

If you're looking for something more basic in the precalculus realm, look up Wesner's Intermediate Algebra with Applications and Trigonometry with Applications. The examples look great, and each section contains a variety of problems.

Also, it may go without saying, but Wikipedia frequently has useful references to look up while doing problems. I personally learned more from Wikipedia than from the textbook I was assigned in freshman year for basic mechanics.
^_^
Av4st
Profile Joined September 2008
Canada92 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-06-19 11:41:07
June 19 2010 11:34 GMT
#13
I highly reccomend using this book. It covers everything important from arithmetic (skip this part lol) all the way to calc 3 / basic linear algebra / basic probability

http://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Mathematics-K-Stroud/dp/0831133279/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276941960&sr=1-1

It's a pleasure to read because it explains things extremely clearly and concisely. Another plus is that it focuses more on examples rather than long convoluted definitions, which I believe is a HUGE flaw in how other math textbooks are layed out.

It helped me go from being a grade 11 c average highschool dropout(although mainly due to sports), to a 4.1 gpa comp sci / math university student.
Cloud
Profile Blog Joined November 2004
Sexico5880 Posts
June 19 2010 12:08 GMT
#14
The calculus by Louis Leithold pretty much covers everything in your list.
BlueLaguna on West, msg for game.
Cloud
Profile Blog Joined November 2004
Sexico5880 Posts
June 19 2010 12:12 GMT
#15
On June 19 2010 17:38 Plexa wrote:
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-06-linear-algebra-spring-2005/video-lectures/

Amazing series of lectures on linear algebra, although not a text book, should help solidify concepts (and is just generally really interesting!).

The 2 books written by that author (Strahm?) on linear algebra are the best there are. One of them covers a little of game theory (not the one used in the course).
BlueLaguna on West, msg for game.
Cloud
Profile Blog Joined November 2004
Sexico5880 Posts
June 19 2010 12:15 GMT
#16
If you want hardcore maths, try Russian authors like Piskunov.
BlueLaguna on West, msg for game.
Muirhead
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
United States556 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-06-19 13:20:30
June 19 2010 13:12 GMT
#17
It sounds like you want mainly high school math?

Artofproblemsolving would be best for you in general. If you want trig go with Trigonometry by I.M. Gelfand. That book was my bible at the end of 7th grade.

Only you know what prereqs your game theory course actually has, but I would look into that before studying absolutely everything.

If you don't want to spend lots of $$ (i.e. you don't want to spend any), and you just want to brush up on basic high school math, try doing old AMC 10/12s from art of problemsolving contests sections and reading the solutions.
starleague.mit.edu
Plexa
Profile Blog Joined October 2005
Aotearoa39261 Posts
June 19 2010 13:36 GMT
#18
On June 19 2010 21:12 Cloud wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 19 2010 17:38 Plexa wrote:
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-06-linear-algebra-spring-2005/video-lectures/

Amazing series of lectures on linear algebra, although not a text book, should help solidify concepts (and is just generally really interesting!).

The 2 books written by that author (Strahm?) on linear algebra are the best there are. One of them covers a little of game theory (not the one used in the course).

The lecturer is Gilbert Strang (he was at my uni the other day giving a lecture on triangle spaces - was pretty funky haha)
Administrator~ Spirit will set you free ~
zeuS~
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
United States193 Posts
June 19 2010 14:09 GMT
#19
http://www.youtube.com/user/patrickJMT - this guy does tutorials on calculus and alg. using this to refresh my calc for when I go back to school in the fall ^^
Rev0lution
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
United States1805 Posts
June 19 2010 14:39 GMT
#20
A good calculus book that I've been reading, and by god, is it explained beautifully is Calculus with Analytic Geometry by Sherman Stein.

http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Analytic-Geometry-Sherman-Stein/dp/0070611750

Amazing.
My dealer is my best friend, and we don't even chill.
1 2 3 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 3h 46m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
UpATreeSC 173
ProTech134
Hui .98
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 4110
Mini 883
Horang2 873
EffOrt 624
firebathero 297
Soulkey 209
BeSt 206
actioN 144
Dewaltoss 100
hero 52
[ Show more ]
Backho 32
910 19
Sexy 14
IntoTheRainbow 8
Dota 2
monkeys_forever147
capcasts57
Counter-Strike
fl0m1355
byalli590
minikerr6
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu496
MindelVK7
Other Games
summit1g8834
gofns6600
Grubby3002
FrodaN1886
Beastyqt657
RotterdaM356
ArmadaUGS195
Fuzer 158
C9.Mang0137
ToD123
Trikslyr43
ZombieGrub25
Organizations
StarCraft 2
angryscii 32
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Migwel
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
StarCraft: Brood War
• blackmanpl 39
• HerbMon 29
• sM.Zik 2
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• WagamamaTV848
• lizZardDota282
Other Games
• imaqtpie1046
• Shiphtur154
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
3h 46m
RSL Revival
13h 46m
Maru vs MaxPax
BSL
22h 46m
RSL Revival
1d 10h
Cure vs Rogue
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
1d 17h
BSL
1d 22h
Afreeca Starleague
2 days
Wardi Open
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
[ Show More ]
Kung Fu Cup
4 days
The PondCast
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL Season 20: Qualifier 1
WardiTV Winter 2026
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
CSL Elite League 2026
ASL Season 21
CSL Season 20: Qualifier 2
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
RSL Revival: Season 4
Nations Cup 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026

Upcoming

CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Disclosure: This page contains affiliate marketing links that support TLnet.

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.