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TLDR: retard needs help reading mathematically rigorous literature.
Explanation below.
I'm a math major and as awkward as it's going to sound I have difficulty understanding Mathematically rigorous texts/literature. This problem usually arises when reading older texts, as most new texts are a bit watered down and don't propose as many theorems or proofs as older texts do. Or if they do they're written in a clearer manner.
I have a few books on Modern Algebra and I can get through the first few chapters of the books that I own (it's not difficult by any means, I know.), but whenever I try to read a book like Shilov's Linear Algebra I get flustered because of how is written. Not that it's poorly written, I just can't understand it.
Is it supposed to be straightforward to read and understand like 1-3 re-reads or is it supposed to take me multiple (3+) attempts to read a theorem? (Linear Algebra level)
My professor last semester for ODE said it wasn't necessarily our fault, as we had never been expected or forced to learn how to read mathematically rigorous texts.
Do any math majors here have any tips to help me learn how to read mathematically rigorous material?
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It's always hard when you're starting out, and it gets better over time
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Keep practicing. Or just give up and kill yourself. Who cares
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>>8155321
I know the feeling, i had that exact problem as a first year.
ultimately i ended up using wikipedia or just google and basically rewriting all the theorems and proofs in more familiar terms.
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>>8155321
I don't understand how it could possibly be hard. If you don't understand it, there's a part you don't understand. Think about that part until you understand it. If you need to reread anything, that just means you went past something without thinking about it and really understanding it. It can start off slow for some, but my best advise is just realize it's hard, when you read a sentence you don't understand, don't just continue. Understand it. I don't really understand the concept of the "rereads" if that's hat you're doing, so idk how to give advice there.
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>>8155321
Are they waterboarding that child?
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>>8155321
do you write down the formulas and proofs or do you just read them ?
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Write your own version of the text, and recreate proofs from memory in your own terms. See if you can still work through the argument a week later.
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>>8155421
Maybe he means new symbols and expressions he's not familiar with, not finding he English of it hard. Personally those are the issues I have when trying to get in over my head with something more advanced than I'm used to. Any resource suggestions?
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>>8155421
Thanks man, that's probably it, and like >>8155479 said, it's new concepts and occasionally notation.
>>8155434
I just read them and try and understand them.
I honestly don't know how to study math I guess. I never really cared in highschool or my first two years of college, so I honestly don't know what I'm doing. I dont think i know how to study in other words.
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>>8155861
Topology is a fucking mystery to me, I have to memorize proofs in order to get them, then they become intuitive. Solving problems is necessary to learn math, including proofs.
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>>8155394
Can you read the material now, or are you still doing the same thing?
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