The Student Room Group

how many books shall i read

im currently becoming "well read" in maths to help me get into the top unis (as advised by my teachers and others), and am not sure how much is too much.

currently I have fully read:

Fermat's last theorem
Mathematics: A Very Short introduction
The music of the primes
1089 and all that
Polya: How to Solve It
A Mathematician's Apology

I have read most of (not all because a few bits were a tad too advanced currently):

A concise introduction to pure mathematics
Tao: Solving mathematical problems

And Im currently reading, bits of bobs of:

How to Prove it
Guide to mathematical methods
Fundamentals of number theory
Elementary Theory of Numbers


Ive just started lower 6th so got plenty of time yet, but was wondering how much more it is worth my while reading.

Any idea?

Also, im not sure whether i should be reading more general interest maths, or theory, or a mixture of everything? or am I overthinking this process far too much and I should just forget it and read whatever I feel like?

Thnx
I read 3 books on engineering before I applied.

I'm going to assume you're planning on applying to Cambridge... in which case you've probably read enough already to show your interest in the subject. In the end they're going to care much more about how good you actually are at maths and how you do in STEP.
o rite thnx

yeah i am thinking oxbridge, as well as the top US colleges too

what is STEP?
Reply 3
STEP= Sixth Term Examination Papers
The step maths is just one examination that cambridge and warwick look at for your application to study maths.
By the way is that FLT book u read by Simon Singh? i read one too a few months ago.
OCC++

By the way is that FLT book u read by Simon Singh? i read one too a few months ago.



yeah it was :wink: twas a good read
Reply 5
I think you've read enough yes, what you want is depth not breadth. Knowing say your school syllabus inside and out is better than having a watery knowledge of other topics.

As for STEP, I suggest you take a look through the maths forum here, STEP is something that you should not take lightly, you should especially not underestimate the amount of prep work it will take :p:.
Reply 6
I think you've read enough already. You won't get enough space to write about all those books in your personal statement and, any that you do, you'll need to know inside out. If you mention like 6 in your personal statement (which by the way takes up a lot of space on the limited statement), you'll have to reread them before your interview which will waste valuable time in which you should be practising maths, not reading books because you mentioned them on your personal statement. I think any more than 4 books is unnecessary. Then again, that's just my opinion.
Reply 7
If you're only reading to bolster your personal statement then you've probably done enough already (I only mentioned two books in mine). However, if you are generally interested I'd encourage you to read as much as possible. A few books which I found interesting and that you haven't listed are The Pleasures of Counting by T.W. Korner, What is Mathematics? by R. Courant, H. Robbins and updated by Ian Stewart and finally From Here to Infinity by Ian Stewart.

A couple of others which aren't worth reading for their mathematical merit but I enjoyed are The Code Book also by Simon Singh and Letters to a Young Mathematician by Ian Stewart.
ooo thnx :biggrin:

i think ill just leave it there then for that, and work on my studies and extracurriculors for the time being, and then reread them or bits of them before the interview and stuff so i know them all well :biggrin:

thnx! :smile:
Yeah You done enough reading, play Pro Evo or summat and leave the maths alone for a bit :p: You're not really gonna be asked too much about the books you've read. However, just remembered now a site I haven't looked at for about a year, mactutor I think it's called, has short biographies of Mathematicians from history, is the sort of thing you can read in a quick 5 mins or so. reminds me - Dictionary of Mathematics is also very good, I lost my copy of mine ages ago but really should get another. Sort of thing you can read on the bog and find out about bizarre parabolas and whatnot.

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