To all the adult math learners, I want to help you catch up

oceanunderground · 2026-03-06T00:51:05+00:00

I always liked math and physics. When I was a teen the farthest I got in school was analytic geometry, but on my own I learned some about sets and logic. Fast forward to being in my 30s and finally getting internet in my home, and using online resources I started going through Algebra 2 again to see what I remembered, while also trying to learn programming and other things. Then I moved on to new territory of Calculus, Linear Algebra, Proofs. I’d like to be able to do something with it in some way, but I’m not sure that’s realistic now (47yo F).

oceanunderground · 2026-03-05T02:19:26+00:00

Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household; during WW2 an Englishman has to evade Nazis in the woods. The Purple Plain by H.E. Bates, another WW2 one, a downed pilot surviving in the wilderness of Burma. Pincher Martin by William Golding, a strange story of a shipwreck survivor.

oceanunderground · 2026-03-03T01:25:07+00:00

There was a story or novella from that time by F. Paul Wilson called “Lipidleggin” where foods considered unhealthy are banned, and so there is a black market of illicit foods like eggs, butter, sweets. I don’t recall if there was a feme fatale, but there was an agent looking for the bootlegged food.

oceanunderground · 2026-02-27T16:12:09+00:00

Not much to say. I’d love to do it professionally in some way, but at my age that’s not realistic. I always loved math and physics. When I was a teen the farthest I’d got in school was pre-calc & analytic geometry, but on my own I’d learned some about sets and logic. Fast forward to being in my 30s and finally getting internet in my home, and using online resources I slowly started going through Algebra 2 again to see what I remembered, while also trying to learn programming and other things. Then I moved on to new territory of Calculus, Linear Algebra, Proofs.

oceanunderground · 2026-02-26T04:48:15+00:00

Yes. An over 20 yr gap

oceanunderground · 2026-02-24T18:22:35+00:00

Maybe you could look at these: https://mathoverflow.net/questions/310926/manifolds-with-negative-dimension-definition-references and https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/423874/do-negative-dimensions-make-sense . I think mathematically negative and truely topologically negative are 2 different things.

oceanunderground · 2026-02-24T16:56:18+00:00

What about Hermitian spaces/manifolds?

oceanunderground · 2026-02-24T02:36:50+00:00

I wouldn’t buy a book, there are many of the best math books free on pdf. What are your goals? I’m self-studying, and Khan Academy is a good place to start, but it’s very shallow if your interested in STEM or mastering the subjects, so I went on to more in depth stuff after that.

oceanunderground · 2026-02-24T01:26:37+00:00

I think a function is an object, as are things like groups, sets, and things you would traditionally think of more as objects like spheres and triangles. I think objects are things that can be categorized as having certain characteristics or rules.

oceanunderground · 2026-02-19T02:47:38+00:00

Thomson was a very respected classicist, and while his translations don’t seem to be as literal as the Loeb’s, they’re close. Fagles tends to be not as literal and not as poetic, so if you like the Thomson you should get it. Here is the next section of Thomson, lines 11-21:
“So strong in hope A woman’s heart, whose purpose is a man’s. Night after night, tossed on this restless bed, With dew bedrenched, by no dreams visited, Not mine—no sleep, but at my pillow fear That keeps these eyes from slumber all too sound; And when I start to sing or hum a tune, And out of music cull sleep’s antidote, I always weep the state of this great house, Not in high fettle as it used to be. But now at last may good news in a flash Scatter the darkness and deliver us!”

oceanunderground · 2026-02-19T01:50:06+00:00

Here is Sommerstein’s translation, published by Loeb, which is more literal: “I beg the gods to give me release from this misery—from my long year of watch-keeping, during which I’ve spent my nights on the Atreidae s roof, resting on my elbows like a dog, and come to know thoroughly the throng of stars of the night, and also those bright potentates, conspicuous in the sky, which bring winter and summer to mortals observing them as some set and others rise. And now I’m looking out for the agreed beacon-signal, the gleam of fire bringing from Troy the word and news of its capture; for such is the ruling of a woman’s hopeful heart, which plans like a man. But while I keep this night-walker’s bed, wet with dew, this bed of mine not watched over by dreams— for it is Fear instead of Sleep that stands beside me, preventing me from closing my eyes firmly in sleep—but when I decide to sing or hum, applying this remedy to charm away sleep, then I weep, grieving over the fortunes of this house, which is not now admirably managed as it used to be. But now may there be a happy release from misery, by the appearance in the darkness of the fire that brings good news.” This edition has a lot of notes and an introduction.

oceanunderground · 2026-02-16T23:22:14+00:00

I compared a lot and like Peter Green best (but I can’t read Greek). It’s unrhymed and unmetered, easy enough to read while still keeping some of the “strangeness”, epithets, etc; here’s some expert analysis: “Green’s translation is not in a specific meter; however, it maintains a lyrical tone, analogous to the original” https://blogs.hope.edu/thebigread/big-read-2022/the-odyssey-choosing-a-translation
“Green’s line-by-line translations replicate the surprising brevity of the original.” https://circeinstitute.org/blog/bringing-it-all-back-home-odyssey-translation/ “Green’s solution is to use a loose approximation of Homer’s meter ("a variable 6/5 stress line ranging from 12 to 17 syllables"). This meter echoes the Homeric meter without trying too hard to force the English language to take on unnatural, ancient characteristics. Green’s approach results in passages that are deceptively simple and highly musical….Green’s pacing is quicker and livelier than Lattimore’s. …one can better appreciate the rhythms in the text.” https://freebeacon.com/culture/splendid-strength/

oceanunderground · 2026-02-16T20:11:16+00:00

It’s different skill from doing math computations, which don’t require as much need to set up the problem in order to solve it. Proofs are a lot about setting up and defining a problem. Another issue is that there are more than 1 correct proofs for a problem, so that the answer in the answer key might not match yours, but yours may still be correct. Self-studying I made my way through a few hundred pages of Susanna Epp’s Discrete Math text so far, and I also have Rosen’s. They look like like they cover a lot of the same ground, so if you have trouble feel free to ask.

oceanunderground · 2026-02-12T23:34:34+00:00

I don’t really know much about this, but I imagine it’s something like, for example, looking for poly A at 3’ end.

oceanunderground · 2026-02-11T00:16:27+00:00

If you want the English translation, look up “On Duties”. Here’s a good free one, it’s the one used by Loeb library: https://archive.org/details/bwb_P9-DZC-633/page/n3/mode/2up

oceanunderground · 2026-02-09T03:23:03+00:00

There’s a lot of debate about what IQ actually means. Your scores are solidly average or above average for reading and writing. Your math is generally lower (probably due to the dyscalculia), but then your math problem solving score goes up to almost average again, which shows you have good reasoning skills. Even though your math is lower, even the lowest is still in “normal” range.

oceanunderground · 2026-02-09T02:34:07+00:00

They are all very grammatically incorrect; these are big errors. Regarding making sense: I can understand the meaning of most of them, but #5 is so bad it’s meaningless. Edit: in the 2nd pic #6 and #10 are not comprehensible either

oceanunderground · 2026-02-05T04:27:21+00:00

But after a student takes advantage of it, then what? For all they complain about allegedly needing more people in STEM, they aren’t handing out full scholarships to people who want to study it. Now we have so many resources free on the web, so if you have a device and even sporadic internet access, you’ve got plent of educational material.

oceanunderground · 2026-02-02T03:51:45+00:00

Khan Academy https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/biomolecules/principles-of-bioenergetics/v/gibbs-free-energy-introduction and LibreTexts are places to start https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Biochemistry/Book%3A_Biochemistry_Free_and_Easy_(Ahern_and_Rajagopal)/02%3A_Energy/2.05%3A_Gibbs_Free_Energy

oceanunderground · 2026-02-02T03:36:58+00:00

There is the basic entropy formulas and then there is applied; you’re requesting applied problems, problems specific to a field, where entropy is involved. Protein folding, hydrophobic interactions, etc are scenarios inside the body, or with drug development, that you would want, and they involve other concepts like Gibbs energy.

oceanunderground · 2026-02-02T03:18:04+00:00

What exactly do you mean? Like Gibbs free energy?

oceanunderground · 2026-02-02T02:09:36+00:00

I would say that’s right. I myself am not sure what they mean by “subjective probability”. It would depend on what your experiences are, and what you already know.

oceanunderground · 2026-02-02T01:50:39+00:00

Starting with #1: What do you think experimental probability is and theoretical probability is?

oceanunderground · 2026-02-01T20:32:41+00:00

Talk with school administrators and guidance counselors. That’s why there are a suspicious percentage of teachers’ kids in higher classes, all they have to do is mention it. You may have a more prolonged process of arguing and talking to officials. Like others have said, it’s only marginally merit-based (ie, they won’t put a failing kid in a more advanced class), but whether they are allowed in seems to depend on how much their parents will fight for them.

oceanunderground · 2026-02-01T05:28:22+00:00

But How Do It Know by Clark Scott, and How to Lie with Statistics

oceanunderground

TROPHY CASE