In school, I was bad at math. I didn't get it and I had an untreated learning disability coupled with a burgeoning interest in psychoactive substances (the kind of interest that got in the way of school). I was also distracted by areas of study I considered "more important" than math. Once I got to college I decided to punish myself and "get good" by taking a calculus class which I managed to get through by shear force of will. Charitable verdict: mixed results. Now that I'm just a guy in the world I have kept reading math, studying it, learning to love and appreciate it. I routinely read math books/articles and love them. I also, usually, understand them. I credit my brain reset on the topic to one book: Godel's Proof by Ernest Nagel and James Newman.
If you are interested in the ideas around numbers and the trying to grasp the beauty of math I recommend this book. It's a book written in the 1950s about Kurt Godel's Incompleteness Theorem – a revolutionary, but thorny, proof with sea-change implications rivaling Einstein's theory of general relativity. This book is amazingly well-written. It's not poetic or beautiful, but it's an expert communication of complicated ideas. I kind of can't believe the authors pulled it off. If you take your time and read carefully you will understand one of the most important and shattering and beautiful proofs in mathematics by one of its most enigmatic and tragic geniuses. It might send you on a path to more inquiry and deeper appreciation of math like it did for me. You don't need to be a math expert to read this book! You just need to work your way through it (it's pretty short too, like 120 pages). Both authors have written other great books of popular mathematics, but I think you should start with this one if you don't read this stuff often. I love literature, poetry, philosophy, pure slop, etc, but this is a life changing book for me!
by mcahoon718
4 Comments
I think I read that one before. It is good. Honestly I would say that Goedel Escher Bach is the best in this regard. It is a bit much though, even though it is written in a very engaging and captivating manner.
More recently, I’ve enjoyed A Drunkards Walk as a laypersons guide to probability, and Algorithms to Live By, as a similar type book for famous computer science algorithms.
You definitely need to pick up Gödel Escher Bach by Douglas Hofstadter.
I read it when I was 18 and it absolutely blew my mind open. Changed how I think about emergence, self reference, consciousness, all that stuff. Those strange loops he talks about got under my skin and stayed there.
It’s this fat, looping book that ties Gödel’s proofs to Escher’s impossible stairs and Bach’s music that eats its own tail. Throws in these silly little dialogues with Achilles and the Tortoise that sneak all the hard ideas in through the back door.
No real math prereqs. Just patience. It turned a bunch of us who swore we weren’t math people into total nerds for the stuff. Long read, but man it rewired my head in the best way. After that I went on to read like four more of his books. Give it a shot.
Wow, this is such a powerful story of growth and rediscovery! I love how you turned your struggle with math into a passion, and it’s inspiring that a book like *Gödel’s Proof* was a turning point for you. It’s so true that the beauty of math is often hidden behind the complexity, but books like this can unlock it in such an accessible way. I’m definitely adding this to my reading list! It’s amazing how something like a single book can shift your entire perspective and lead to new passions. Thank you for sharing this! 📚✨
Wow, thanks OP. I’m exactly like you, but chose to study literature instead of maths! But it’s something I’ve always wanted to understand, a language I’m not a part of.