Mathematical Proof Writing

Office Hours with The Math Sorcerer
19 Sept 202319:22

Summary

TLDREl video ofrece consejos para aprender a escribir demostraciones matemáticas, destacando la importancia de comprender la estructura de las pruebas para disfrutar de las matemáticas. Se aborda la dificultad inicial y cómo, una vez dominada, transforma la experiencia de aprendizaje. Se recomienda tomar clases, especialmente con buenos profesores que escriben demostraciones claras, y se sugiere la exploración de múltiples recursos, incluyendo libros, cursos en línea y videos de YouTube. El video enfatiza la necesidad de feedback para mejorar y menciona varios libros que pueden ser útiles en el proceso de aprendizaje.

Takeaways

  • 😀 Aprender a escribir demostraciones matemáticas es crucial para comprender y amar la matemática a un nivel más profundo.
  • 🧠 Es normal sentirse desanimado al aprender demostraciones, pero la clave es entender la estructura y la lógica detrás de ellas.
  • 📚 Tomar clases, especialmente con buenos profesores que escriben demostraciones claras, es una de las mejores formas de aprender a escribir pruebas.
  • 💻 Los cursos en línea y los videos de YouTube pueden ser útiles para aprender demostraciones, pero la retroalimentación es esencial para el progreso.
  • 📖 Leer y trabajar con múltiples libros de demostraciones puede ayudar a mejorar la habilidad de escribir pruebas, ya que cada libro puede ofrecer diferentes perspectivas.
  • 🤓 Es importante aprender no solo a copiar demostraciones, sino a comprender cómo construir las propias para desarrollar un pensamiento lógico sólido.
  • 👨‍🏫 Los profesores suelen elegir libros de matemáticas que no tienen respuestas para facilitar la asignación de problemas como tareas y exámenes.
  • 🎓 Dominar la escritura de demostraciones es fundamental para obtener un título en matemáticas y avanzar en áreas más complejas del aprendizaje matemático.
  • 📝 La escritura de demostraciones mejora con el tiempo y la práctica, y es un viaje de aprendizaje continuo en el campo de las matemáticas.
  • 💡 Incluso después de aprender a escribir demostraciones, los desafíos matemáticos siguen siendo difíciles, pero se vuelve más manejable con una sólida base en la lógica y la demostración.

Q & A

  • ¿Qué hace que las pruebas matemáticas sean un punto de inflexión en el aprendizaje de matemáticas?

    -Las pruebas matemáticas son un punto de inflexión porque permiten a los estudiantes ver la lógica detrás de los problemas y construir un razonamiento sólido. Al dominar las pruebas, se puede comenzar a apreciar la belleza y la estructura de la matemática, lo que lleva a un mayor amor por la disciplina.

  • ¿Por qué a menudo se siente que las pruebas matemáticas son difíciles de aprender?

    -Las pruebas matemáticas pueden ser difíciles de aprender porque requieren una comprensión profunda de la lógica y la estructura matemática. Muchas personas no llegan a este nivel debido a la falta de entendimiento o la falta de una buena guía, lo que puede hacer que el proceso parezca abrumador y desalentador.

  • ¿Qué consejo se da en el video para aquellos que están luchando con el aprendizaje de pruebas matemáticas?

    -El video sugiere que es normal sentirse desanimado al aprender pruebas matemáticas y que el entendimiento es clave. Se recomienda ser persistente y buscar la mejor guía posible, ya sea en forma de clases, libros o recursos en línea.

  • ¿Por qué es importante aprender a escribir pruebas en matemáticas?

    -Aprender a escribir pruebas es fundamental en matemáticas porque proporciona la base para entender y explorar conceptos más avanzados. Permite a los estudiantes construir un conocimiento sólido que les permite abordar temas complejos y avanzar en su educación matemática.

  • ¿Qué recursos se recomiendan en el video para aprender a escribir pruebas matemáticas?

    -El video recomienda utilizar libros, clases en línea, cursos universitarios y videos de YouTube como recursos para aprender a escribir pruebas. Se sugiere obtener la mayor cantidad de libros posibles para ver diferentes enfoques y se mencionan específicamente varios títulos de libros de pruebas.

  • ¿Cuál es la importancia de la retroalimentación al aprender a escribir pruebas matemáticas?

    -La retroalimentación es crucial al aprender a escribir pruebas porque permite a los estudiantes entender sus errores y mejorar su enfoque. Es difícil obtener retroalimentación de libros, por lo que se recomienda tomar clases donde los profesores puedan proporcionar esta retroalimentación valiosa.

  • ¿Qué libro gratuito se menciona en el video para aprender a escribir pruebas?

    -El libro gratuito mencionado en el video es 'Book of Proof' de Hammock, que se puede encontrar en línea y es una buena introducción al tema de las pruebas matemáticas.

  • ¿Cómo se puede mejorar la habilidad para escribir pruebas matemáticas según el video?

    -El video sugiere que la mejor manera de mejorar la habilidad para escribir pruebas es a través de la práctica constante, el aprendizaje de profesores experimentados y la observación y emulación de pruebas limpias y claras.

  • ¿Qué es la estructura de una prueba matemática y por qué es importante?

    -La estructura de una prueba matemática es una serie de pasos lógicos y deductivos que llevan de un enunciado a una conclusión. Es importante porque permite a los matemáticos demostrar teoremas y conceptos de manera rigurosa y comprensible.

  • ¿Cuál es la relación entre el aprendizaje de pruebas y la obtención de un grado en matemáticas?

    -El aprendizaje de pruebas es esencial para obtener un grado en matemáticas porque la mayoría de las clases avanzadas en matemáticas requieren la capacidad de entender y construir pruebas. Dominar esta habilidad abre las puertas a áreas más especializadas y avanzadas del estudio matemático.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Aprendiendo a escribir demostraciones matemáticas

El primer párrafo enfatiza la importancia de comprender y amar las demostraciones matemáticas al avanzar en el aprendizaje de matemáticas. Se menciona que la mayoría de las personas no llegan a este nivel por varias razones, pero el vídeo pretende ofrecer consejos para lograrlo. Se aborda la dificultad inicial de aprender a escribir demostraciones y cómo, una vez que se comprende la estructura, se puede disfrutar y apreciar la belleza de la lógica matemática. Se sugiere que el aprendizaje de la escritura de demostraciones es crucial para dominar temas avanzados de matemáticas y que, a pesar de ser difícil, es fundamental para el crecimiento en el campo.

05:01

👨‍🏫 La importancia de un buen profesor en el aprendizaje de demostraciones

Este párrafo relata la experiencia personal del narrador con dos profesores excepcionales que le enseñaron a escribir demostraciones de manera diferente, lo que resultó en un gran beneficio para su comprensión. Se discute la ventaja de tomar clases con profesores que escriben demostraciones claras y cómo el aprendizaje de la escritura de demostraciones se ve afectado por la calidad de la enseñanza recibida. Además, se menciona la dificultad de obtener retroalimentación de libros en comparación con la experiencia de aprender en un entorno educativo donde se recibe retroalimentación directa.

10:02

📚 Mejores recursos para aprender a escribir demostraciones

El tercer párrafo aborda la selección de libros y recursos para aprender a escribir demostraciones, destacando la importancia de aprender de las mejores fuentes posibles. Se mencionan varios libros recomendados por la comunidad y por ex profesores, como 'Book of Proof', 'How to Read and Do Proofs' de Daniel Solow, 'Proofs' de Jake Cummings, y otros. El narrador comparte su experiencia con estos libros y cómo cada uno aporta algo diferente al aprendizaje del proceso de demostración. Se enfatiza la necesidad de tener múltiples recursos para abordar diferentes enfoques y estilos de demostración.

15:03

🎓 La conexión entre la escritura de demostraciones y la obtención de un grado en matemáticas

El último párrafo enfatiza la conexión entre el dominio de la escritura de demostraciones y la capacidad de completar un grado en matemáticas. Se menciona la importancia de la retroalimentación en el proceso de aprendizaje y cómo, a pesar de los desafíos, el éxito en la escritura de demostraciones abre puertas para estudiar temas avanzados. El narrador comparte su propia experiencia con la escritura de demostraciones y cómo la toma de múltiples cursos en demostraciones lo ayudó a superar los retos iniciales y avanzar en su educación matemática.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Pruebas matemáticas

Las pruebas matemáticas son demostraciones lógicas utilizadas para confirmar la veracidad de una afirmación matemática. En el video, se enfatiza la importancia de aprender a escribir pruebas como un paso fundamental para apreciar la belleza y la lógica de las matemáticas. El orador comparte su experiencia de cómo el aprendizaje de las pruebas transformó su percepción sobre las matemáticas, haciéndolas parecer 'hermosas' y 'asombrosas'.

💡Estructura de las pruebas

La estructura de las pruebas es el marco que guía el proceso de demostración en matemáticas. El video menciona la necesidad de comprender la estructura para escribir pruebas efectivas, como las pruebas directas, pruebas por contradicción y pruebas por contraposición. Esta comprensión es crucial para abordar temas avanzados de matemáticas.

💡Convergence test

El test de convergencia es un método utilizado para determinar si una serie infinita converge o diverge. Aunque no es el foco principal del video, se menciona como ejemplo de un concepto matemático que el orador disfrutó antes de adentrarse en el mundo de las pruebas, destacando la evolución de su pasión por las matemáticas.

💡Lógica

La lógica es el estudio de la validez de las formas de razonamiento, y es fundamental en la escritura de pruebas matemáticas. El video sugiere que el entendimiento de la lógica es esencial para construir pruebas sólidas y es una habilidad que se perfecciona con el tiempo y la práctica.

💡Clases de matemáticas

El video recomienda tomar clases de matemáticas, especialmente aquellas que se centran en la escritura de pruebas, como una de las mejores formas de aprender. Las clases proporcionan la oportunidad de ver a profesores experimentados escribiendo pruebas y ofrecen retroalimentación valiosa para el aprendizaje.

💡Feedback

El retroalimentación es un elemento crítico mencionado en el video para el aprendizaje de la escritura de pruebas. Es la forma en que los estudiantes pueden aprender de sus errores y mejorar su habilidad para escribir pruebas. El orador sugiere que el acceso a un profesor que pueda proporcionar esta retroalimentación es esencial.

💡Libros de matemáticas

Los libros de matemáticas son una herramienta recomendada en el video para aprender a escribir pruebas. Se mencionan varios títulos específicos, como 'How to Read and Do Proofs' y 'Book of Proof', que ofrecen ejemplos y ejercicios para practicar la escritura de pruebas. El orador también destaca la importancia de tener múltiples recursos para abordar diferentes enfoques y estilos de explicación.

💡Curso en línea

Los cursos en línea son presentados en el video como una alternativa viable para aprender la escritura de pruebas, especialmente para aquellos que no pueden asistir a clases presenciales. Estos cursos ofrecen la ventaja de la flexibilidad y, en algunos casos, la acreditación académica.

💡Estrategias de aprendizaje

El video discute varias estrategias de aprendizaje para la escritura de pruebas, incluyendo la imitación de pruebas de profesores experimentados, la práctica con múltiples recursos y la búsqueda activa de retroalimentación. Estas estrategias son presentadas como formas efectivas de superar los desafíos inherentes al aprendizaje de la escritura de pruebas.

💡Matemáticas avanzadas

Las matemáticas avanzadas son un tema que se discute en el video como un área donde la habilidad para escribir pruebas es esencial. Se mencionan campos específicos como el álgebra abstracta y el análisis real, donde la capacidad de escribir pruebas es crucial para comprender y contribuir al conocimiento matemático.

Highlights

Understanding how to write mathematical proofs is crucial for appreciating the beauty of mathematics.

Many people struggle with proofs, but it's a normal part of learning and it gets better with understanding.

Learning to write proofs can be a game-changer, transforming your view of mathematics.

The logical flow of ideas in proofs is often described as beautiful by those who understand it.

Proof writing can feel defeating when you don't understand the structure, but it's okay to feel that way.

Learning proof writing is essential for advancing in mathematics.

Different types of proofs such as direct, by contradiction, and by contrapositive are important to learn.

Having a proof-based background allows you to attempt more challenging subjects in mathematics.

Proof writing skills evolve over time, and it's still difficult even after mastering the basics.

Learning from the best sources is crucial when it comes to writing proofs.

Books are a good way to learn proof writing, but they may not provide the feedback you need.

Taking a class, especially with a good professor, is one of the best ways to learn to write proofs.

Online courses can be a good alternative for learning proof writing with the benefit of feedback.

YouTube videos and websites like mathsorcerer.com offer resources for learning proof writing.

Books like 'Book of Proof', 'How to Read and Do Proofs', and 'Proofs' by Jake Cummings are recommended for learning.

It's beneficial to have multiple proof books to compare and contrast different explanations and proofs.

Once you learn to write proofs, you can tackle higher-level math classes and potentially earn a math degree.

The biggest hurdle in learning proof writing is getting feedback on your proofs.

The speaker shares personal experiences with learning proof writing and the impact of having two courses simultaneously.

Transcripts

play00:06

once you learn how to write mathematical

play00:09

proofs once you actually understand how

play00:12

to do it so you can look at a problem

play00:14

and you can say okay this is what I

play00:16

assume this is what I have to show and

play00:19

then in your mind you have a couple

play00:20

ideas once you get to that level that's

play00:23

when it really takes off that's when you

play00:25

really start loving mathematics

play00:28

most people don't get to that level for

play00:31

a variety of reasons and so in this

play00:33

video I'm going to give you some tips

play00:34

for getting to that level

play00:37

also if you are trying to get to that

play00:40

level right now

play00:41

and you're struggling to learn the right

play00:43

proofs and you hate it

play00:46

just know that it's okay

play00:49

it's normal

play00:50

and I really think that the reason that

play00:53

maybe you don't like it is simply

play00:55

because you don't understand it right so

play00:57

because you don't get it but once you

play00:59

get it okay once you get it it's a game

play01:02

changer and like just it's beautiful

play01:05

you know I I thought I liked math when I

play01:07

was in calc 2. I loved infinite series

play01:09

it was so cool I love the convergence

play01:11

test I was like oh this is so cool the

play01:13

p-test the ratio test I was such a such

play01:16

a nerd you know I loved it but when I

play01:18

learned to write proofs

play01:20

that was a game changer I was like okay

play01:22

this is beautiful this is this is

play01:23

amazing this logical flow of ideas is

play01:26

just beautiful

play01:28

but when you don't understand the

play01:29

structure

play01:30

when you don't know how to do it it can

play01:32

make you feel defeated

play01:34

and it's it's okay to feel that way

play01:36

but if you really want to take your math

play01:38

to the next level you have to learn to

play01:40

write proofs and trust me once you

play01:42

understand the structure

play01:44

it's not that bad it's it's learning new

play01:46

math that's still hard but having that

play01:48

structure behind you having the proof

play01:49

structure knowing how to construct

play01:51

proofs knowing how to write a direct

play01:53

proof a proof by contradiction a proof

play01:56

by contrapositive knowing how to prove

play01:58

and if and only if statement once you

play02:00

know how to do those things you can pick

play02:02

up a book on advanced mathematics and

play02:04

you can start learning you can pick up a

play02:05

book on an abstract algebra and start

play02:07

learning abstract algebra you can pick

play02:09

up a book on real analysis and start

play02:10

learning real analysis it's still going

play02:12

to be really really hard right but you

play02:14

have the proof based background you have

play02:17

that Foundation that at least lets you

play02:20

attempt these more challenging subjects

play02:22

and and your proof writing will evolve

play02:24

over time you'll get better over time

play02:26

it's not just like oh you learned to

play02:27

write proofs and then all of a sudden

play02:28

it's super super easy no no no it's

play02:30

still incredibly difficult math is a

play02:34

lifelong journey of learning

play02:36

so in this video I want to talk about

play02:39

the best way to learn to write proofs

play02:42

so first let me say something that I

play02:45

didn't want to say but I'm going to say

play02:46

it when it comes to writing proofs you

play02:50

really want to make sure that you learn

play02:52

from the best possible sources

play02:54

so I would recommend that you get some

play02:58

books and we'll talk about some books

play02:59

later books are pretty good

play03:01

but once you know how to write proofs

play03:03

even the proofs and books sometimes

play03:06

don't seem that good because you feel

play03:07

like your own proofs are better when you

play03:09

feel like your proofs are more clean and

play03:11

more clear than the ones in the books

play03:13

that's how you know you've reached a

play03:15

certain level of like yeah I can write

play03:16

proofs I know what's going on it's kind

play03:19

of like being a programmer if you are

play03:23

reading someone else's code you're like

play03:25

okay oh that's what they did there oh

play03:27

okay I understand but when you write

play03:28

your own code it's like oh yeah this is

play03:30

my program I like the way I wrote it

play03:32

this is this is awesome this is the best

play03:34

program because it makes sense to me and

play03:36

I wrote down you know this code that

play03:39

creates this program and this is how it

play03:42

all fits together and I know it fits

play03:43

together in a logical way because I

play03:46

created that logical construction the

play03:48

same thing happens with proof writing

play03:50

you look at the proof and you say this

play03:52

is my proof I constructed this proof

play03:54

there was no better proof than my proof

play03:56

the proof in this book is inferior that

play03:58

that it's kind of a weird feeling but

play04:00

when you create something it makes more

play04:02

sense to you and that that's the level

play04:04

you want to get to

play04:05

so you want to learn from the best

play04:07

if possible so a book is is a good way

play04:11

now the best way to learn to write

play04:12

proofs is taking a class and a class in

play04:15

college face-to-face class if you can

play04:17

and hopefully you can get a good

play04:20

professor hopefully your professor is

play04:21

good and writes clean proofs it's not

play04:24

always the case it's just the way life

play04:25

works but having a good professor

play04:28

that can write good proofs is an

play04:31

absolute requirement almost for most

play04:33

people to learn to write proof and you

play04:35

can learn on your own it's tough you can

play04:36

do it if you get a lot of books you can

play04:37

learn but

play04:38

having a professor is good I was really

play04:41

lucky I was very very lucky because I

play04:44

was doing math and computer science so I

play04:46

took a proof writing class and the

play04:48

discrete math class which is a computer

play04:50

science math class for computer science

play04:52

students and in the discrete math class

play04:54

we had to do proofs

play04:56

and it was kind of cool because in my

play04:58

math class we did logic and proof we

play05:00

spent a lot of time on the logic and we

play05:02

didn't really get to the formal proofs

play05:04

or the rather the informal proofs until

play05:06

the end of the semester

play05:08

so we spent a lot of time on logic and

play05:10

then in my discrete math class that

play05:12

class covered a lot of topics so when we

play05:14

got to proofs it was like okay here's

play05:15

the proof here's how you do it you know

play05:18

so so it was like this weird mix so I

play05:20

felt like I was on top of the world

play05:21

because I was getting instruction from

play05:24

two very very good professors one uh

play05:27

being a man from the U.S he passed away

play05:29

several years ago uh great man he used

play05:31

to anoint us before class very good that

play05:33

was the math professor and then uh for

play05:36

my computer science based math class uh

play05:38

it was this Middle Eastern man he had a

play05:40

very thick accent and he was really

play05:42

hardcore amazing Professor so having two

play05:45

distinct professors teach me proofs in

play05:47

different ways was a big benefit for me

play05:50

and then I had other great professors in

play05:51

abstract algebra and stuff that really

play05:53

really showed me how to write elegant

play05:55

proofs and I tried to mimic what they

play05:57

did so taking a class

play05:59

lets you see experienced professionals

play06:02

write quality proofs and the more math

play06:05

classes you take the more proofs you see

play06:07

and so what you want to do is you want

play06:09

to try to emulate what you think is the

play06:11

cleanest proof from these math

play06:13

professors from these various classes

play06:15

and you want to try to absorb that and

play06:17

incorporate it into your own proof

play06:18

writing

play06:20

and that's how you learn I'm getting

play06:22

Goosebumps I mean that that's really how

play06:23

you learn to write proofs that's the

play06:24

best way

play06:25

now I realize that's not the easiest way

play06:27

many of you you know don't want to go to

play06:29

college many of you don't have the time

play06:30

or the money or the energy and I get it

play06:32

right time is the most valuable resource

play06:34

we all have so so what can you do

play06:37

besides that well you can take an online

play06:39

course there's online courses at

play06:41

colleges that's also good and at least

play06:43

with an online course at a college you

play06:44

get college credit there's

play06:45

accountability but more importantly you

play06:47

get feedback

play06:49

feedback is something that is very hard

play06:51

to get from a book okay as much as I

play06:52

love books and I think you should buy

play06:53

books and books are great it's hard to

play06:56

get feedback on your own proofs from a

play06:57

book

play06:58

and it's hard to email people online and

play07:00

get feedback you know like if someone

play07:01

emails me and they send me their proof

play07:03

it's hard for me to it's hard for me to

play07:05

read all the emails I get but you should

play07:06

email me if you have questions but I

play07:07

still struggle to keep up right I don't

play07:09

get to read all of them so if someone

play07:11

were to send me a math proof and say can

play07:12

you check my proof I probably wouldn't

play07:14

have time to look at it right it takes a

play07:16

lot of work time and energy

play07:18

so by taking a class you have a

play07:20

dedicated Professor whose job is to

play07:23

actually give you that time and energy

play07:25

to look at your proof so at least when

play07:27

you turn in your homework assignments at

play07:28

least they're graded and so when you get

play07:30

them back you have some feedback on your

play07:32

work and that feedback is critical it's

play07:35

critical for learning to write proofs so

play07:37

again that that's the best way to learn

play07:39

to write proofs take a class so you get

play07:41

that feedback

play07:42

a lot of people they'll take a class on

play07:44

proof writing and they'll get that

play07:46

feedback and they'll give up

play07:49

and I get it I get it I understand it's

play07:52

hard right it's not easy but just know

play07:53

that once you get over that hurdle

play07:55

once you learn to write proofs all of

play07:58

math opens up for you

play08:00

so let's say you don't want to take

play08:02

courses online or out of college what

play08:04

can you do

play08:05

well there's YouTube videos I have a

play08:07

bunch of YouTube videos on proof writing

play08:09

and I'm pretty sure all of my proofs are

play08:11

100 correct there's no mistakes so you

play08:13

can check those out I have a bunch of

play08:14

playlists I also have courses on my

play08:16

website mathsorcerer.com check it out I

play08:19

have a couple courses on proof writing I

play08:21

don't have a dedicated course for proof

play08:23

writing yet but I have like two courses

play08:25

that are okay and they have some decent

play08:26

proofs and they're organized

play08:28

let's talk about books because I think

play08:31

books are a good way

play08:32

let's start with the free book A book

play08:34

that's going to cost you nothing it's

play08:35

free you can just go on Google and

play08:37

search for it

play08:38

it's this one here you might say if it's

play08:40

free why do you have it well because I

play08:42

bought it

play08:43

[Laughter]

play08:44

I I read I was reading the book online

play08:46

I'm I'm okay with ebooks I prefer

play08:49

physical books so I went on Amazon and I

play08:51

bought this I bought it on Amazon by the

play08:52

way I'll leave links in the description

play08:53

to all of these books this one's called

play08:55

book of proof

play08:56

I've read maybe a few chapters from this

play08:58

book and portions of other chapters and

play09:00

I've done maybe 30 40 problems from this

play09:02

book

play09:02

it's pretty good it's pretty good it's

play09:04

it's one of the better books it's free

play09:06

it's by hammock it's called book of

play09:08

proof I'll leave a link in the

play09:09

description

play09:10

another really really good one well I'll

play09:13

save this one for last I'm Gonna Save

play09:14

The Best For Last just to make it

play09:16

suspenseful so another really good one

play09:18

which is recommended to me by one of my

play09:20

former College professors is how to read

play09:22

and do proofs by Daniel solo I know a

play09:24

few of you here on the channel have

play09:26

talked about this book you've used this

play09:27

book you're working through the book and

play09:28

you like it so

play09:30

other people have spent some time with

play09:31

this book I've read small portions of

play09:33

this book I haven't spent a lot of time

play09:34

with it

play09:36

um but it's highly acclaimed and highly

play09:38

praised by people here on the channel

play09:39

and by the reviews on Amazon really good

play09:42

book

play09:43

another book which I've spent some time

play09:45

with which is a relatively new book

play09:46

which again a lot of people here on the

play09:48

channel have commented on is

play09:50

um proofs by Jake Cummings I know some

play09:52

of you here have been working through

play09:53

this book diligently I know I've seen a

play09:55

lot of the comments people saying

play09:56

they've been working through this book

play09:57

every day and just working really hard

play09:59

and they really love this book so it's a

play10:01

thick book it's a little bit different

play10:03

it's a little bit wordy

play10:04

um

play10:05

I mean I think it's pretty good it's a

play10:08

very thick book so and it's inexpensive

play10:10

so it's inexpensive it's worth trying my

play10:12

advice is to get every single proof book

play10:14

you can afford okay because proof

play10:16

writing is hard

play10:17

this one is one that I've had for a long

play10:19

time and I've spent a long time with

play10:21

this is a transition to advanced

play10:23

mathematics by Chartrand palominium

play10:24

Zhang this was recommended to me by a

play10:27

dear friend of mine who passed away

play10:29

actually

play10:30

um seven months ago it's kind of sad but

play10:32

he was a big fan of this book and yeah

play10:35

great book I love this book I've done a

play10:38

lot of the examples from this book I've

play10:39

worked through them I've done a lot of

play10:41

the exercises this is a quality textbook

play10:43

it's a little bit on the pricey side but

play10:45

it's very very good I think it's better

play10:47

than

play10:49

um all the ones I showed you I do think

play10:51

it's better I think it's a better book

play10:52

so very good book

play10:55

and then we have this one here I

play10:57

actually use this one to teach an

play10:59

independent study with some students a

play11:00

few times in college

play11:02

and it's pretty good some of the

play11:05

students I had

play11:06

um they didn't like this book as much as

play11:08

the shartran book that I just showed you

play11:09

they thought this one was inferior I

play11:12

think this one's great that's just my

play11:13

opinion it's got some nice proofs it's

play11:16

got a lot of topics right so it's a

play11:17

proof book but it has all kinds of

play11:19

topics in it all kinds of math in it so

play11:21

definitely recommend this one if you can

play11:22

afford it it's a bit on the pricey side

play11:25

the last one I'll show you then we'll

play11:27

talk a little bit more about proof

play11:28

writing is this one here it's called how

play11:31

to prove it a structured approach this

play11:33

is probably currently my favorite one

play11:34

because I don't know I like the size and

play11:38

it was forced upon me some people were I

play11:40

don't remember who it was but

play11:42

um they kept leaving comments did you

play11:43

get the book did you get the book I'm

play11:44

like fine I'll buy it and I didn't want

play11:46

to buy it because I didn't want to spend

play11:47

the money I know I paid over 20 for it

play11:49

and I have a lot of books and I'm not

play11:51

rich so I try not to try to buy too many

play11:53

books plus I have books on the floor you

play11:54

can't see them I don't have any more

play11:55

bookshelves so I need to get another

play11:56

bookshelf

play11:57

so I have I have a problem I have too

play11:59

many books

play12:00

great book The reason I like this book

play12:02

is because he spends a lot of time on

play12:04

the logic so he'll do the informal proof

play12:07

Daniel Bellman who's the author and then

play12:09

he'll he'll talk about the proof

play12:10

multiple ways we'll try to explain it to

play12:12

you

play12:13

like and he'll try hard so I think

play12:15

that's important when you're learning to

play12:16

write proofs because you might not

play12:17

always understand the explanation

play12:19

and that's the key point with all of

play12:20

these books right you you get one of

play12:22

these books and

play12:24

um you read the explanation and you

play12:26

don't get it so what do you do you read

play12:28

another book that's why I think it's

play12:29

good to get as many books as you can and

play12:31

it's one of the reasons I have so many

play12:32

books right the reason I have so many

play12:34

books is because math is hard people

play12:36

always think that oh you know you spent

play12:38

a lot of money on books I did I did but

play12:40

it's been over almost 20 years I've been

play12:42

collecting math books

play12:44

for almost 20 years I think it might

play12:46

actually be exactly 20 years I don't

play12:47

know I don't want to date myself but

play12:48

it's almost 20. it's almost 20 years of

play12:51

just doing mathematics so yeah

play12:53

pretty cool stuff

play12:55

so proof writing it's a tough one

play12:58

um taking a course is the best way it

play13:00

really is but

play13:02

it's not a guarantee that you're going

play13:04

to learn right because again I'm not one

play13:06

to blame other people but like you

play13:08

really want to have someone who's

play13:09

writing really clean proofs so that you

play13:11

can mimic those proofs

play13:13

I I want to pump myself here but this is

play13:15

free so if you go on my channel and I

play13:19

have a playlist on set theory look at my

play13:20

set theory proofs those proofs are clean

play13:22

they're correct they're very detailed

play13:24

there's no ambiguity there's no mistakes

play13:27

right I'm wearing a a stupid wizard hat

play13:29

they're kind of old videos the quality

play13:31

is not great I think I made these videos

play13:32

before I even knew how to edit I mean I

play13:34

was using a very cheap phone and I'm

play13:36

still recording this with a very cheap

play13:37

phone this is a very old iPhone

play13:40

but the point is the mathematics is

play13:42

correct okay it's correct and the proofs

play13:45

are clean and you need that you need

play13:47

that a lot of books have proofs and

play13:49

they're very tersed they're very quick

play13:51

for example um there's a famous book on

play13:53

mathematical analysis it's called

play13:54

principles of mathematical analysis by

play13:56

Walter Rudin this is a very famous book

play13:59

I I own the first edition because I'm a

play14:01

collector of math books and I think it's

play14:03

a great book in fact I might even sit

play14:04

down and and read a little bit today you

play14:06

know it's a fantastic book but it's

play14:08

extremely hard to read and he doesn't

play14:10

explain the proofs I mean he just says

play14:11

here's Epsilon here's Delta here's the

play14:13

proof how do I figure out what you

play14:15

figured out it's up to you and most of

play14:16

the time it's like the proof is left as

play14:18

an exercise to the reader

play14:20

I don't know why they do that I think

play14:22

they just want you to struggle and learn

play14:23

because I think that's the best way to

play14:25

learn to write proofs it's true in order

play14:27

to learn to write proofs you can't just

play14:28

copy someone's proof you actually have

play14:31

to understand how to construct your own

play14:32

proof so you actually have to put in the

play14:34

effort you actually have to put in the

play14:36

work and I think that a lot of these

play14:38

math people these mathematicians who

play14:40

write these books they know that

play14:41

and that's why they purposely leave out

play14:43

answers also a lot of times answers are

play14:45

left out because professors will take

play14:47

those exercises and assign them as

play14:49

homework questions and sometimes what

play14:50

they'll do is they'll assign them as

play14:51

test questions which is really good I

play14:54

had a partial differential equations

play14:55

teacher who we used a really hard book

play14:58

was I thought it was harder one by

play14:59

Strauss and he would give his homework

play15:02

and I remember going to his office and

play15:05

he wouldn't help me with the homework it

play15:06

was really weird he was like oh no I am

play15:07

busy oh yeah this is just waving his

play15:09

hands and he had some weird smell coming

play15:11

from his office it was just a really

play15:12

weird experience he was a great teacher

play15:14

amazing man really little guy a really

play15:17

little Middle Eastern man very little

play15:18

bold very very tiny man

play15:20

brilliant teacher brilliant the guy was

play15:23

a brilliant mathematician brilliant I

play15:25

mean just like a legendary mind so good

play15:28

ah getting Goosebumps but he wouldn't

play15:30

help me with my homework I was like

play15:31

that's really weird why won't he help me

play15:33

he seems very busy and on the test he

play15:37

put the homework questions on the test

play15:38

and I think they were from the book so

play15:40

that's just a it's a nice way for

play15:41

teachers to be able to find homework

play15:43

problems so that's why a lot of times

play15:44

these books

play15:45

don't have answers right because the

play15:48

books are chosen by the teachers right

play15:49

if you're a teacher a lot of times you

play15:51

get to choose the book or there's a

play15:53

committee that chooses the book

play15:54

especially in the advanced math classes

play15:55

you know if you choose the book you want

play15:57

to choose a book that you can use for

play15:59

problems because you have other stuff

play16:00

you have to do besides teach right and

play16:02

teaching is hard you have to grade

play16:03

anything that makes your job easier as a

play16:05

teacher right I mean teachers are human

play16:06

beings too right

play16:08

so by picking these books which is a

play16:10

trend a lot of books don't have answers

play16:11

they can assign those problems as test

play16:14

questions and homework questions so

play16:16

that's another reason sometimes why a

play16:18

lot of these books are so terse I think

play16:20

but you do have to struggle to learn so

play16:22

that's why I have so many books anyways

play16:25

proof writing it's it's a struggle

play16:27

um it's hard for everyone you're not

play16:29

alone I've known plenty of people who've

play16:32

given up on mathematics because of proof

play16:34

writing

play16:35

also know this one more thing before I

play16:36

end this video

play16:38

once you learn how to write proofs you

play16:40

can get a math degree you can like that

play16:43

that's the one thing you need to know

play16:44

how to do because you can get through

play16:45

the calculus sequence calc 1 calc 2 calc

play16:48

3 d e you can be a rock star and get all

play16:50

A's but then you get to proof writing

play16:52

it's like uh uh so then once we want to

play16:55

write proofs then you have to tackle you

play16:57

know Advanced calculus abstract algebra

play16:58

but you need to master the proof writing

play17:00

before you can jump into those classes

play17:03

you know sometimes you'll have a

play17:04

statement

play17:05

in an advanced math class and you have

play17:07

to take like the negation of that

play17:09

statement like how do you negate the

play17:10

definition of a limit right how do you

play17:11

do that right so you need to be able to

play17:13

do that cold

play17:15

how do you do a proof by contradiction

play17:17

on a limit or something you know what

play17:18

how do you do that you know some and

play17:20

then sometimes you have more complex

play17:21

definitions like you have like these

play17:24

double series you know how do you deal

play17:26

with that so things can get a little bit

play17:28

more complicated they can get a little

play17:29

bit delicate and it's in times like that

play17:32

that your logic really shines those

play17:34

basic core principles you learn in those

play17:36

proof writing techniques come back in in

play17:38

your higher level math classes so having

play17:41

a good grasp of that will allow you to

play17:43

get really fun you can get a math degree

play17:44

you can if you can learn to write proofs

play17:46

if you if you buy this book and you can

play17:48

write the proofs in this book you can

play17:50

you can you can do it you can get a math

play17:51

degree right you can do it

play17:53

but easier said than done and again the

play17:56

biggest hurdle

play17:57

the biggest hurdle is going to be

play17:58

feedback so try to

play18:01

read good proofs and again check out my

play18:03

playlist on set theory it's free I've

play18:04

also got a playlist on function sets and

play18:07

relations it's free I've got an abstract

play18:08

algebra playlist it's you know on

play18:10

YouTube

play18:11

and so it's got some proofs and I've got

play18:13

some Advanced calculus proofs and some

play18:14

topology not much but I've got some

play18:16

topology stuff so

play18:18

it's all correct there's no mistakes so

play18:20

yeah and those proofs are pretty clean I

play18:22

was always

play18:23

I was always pretty good at writing

play18:25

proofs that's because I had that I had

play18:27

that foundational start where I took

play18:30

those two classes at the same time

play18:32

and I think if I wouldn't have had that

play18:33

it would have been really hard like I

play18:35

can't imagine if I had just taken the

play18:37

proof writing class and not that

play18:38

discrete math class

play18:39

or or if I had taken that discrete math

play18:41

class and not the proof writing class it

play18:43

would have been harder for me so having

play18:45

having to double courses those two

play18:47

courses on proof writing really really

play18:50

helped me and it was still really hard

play18:52

when I got to the advanced math classes

play18:53

it didn't make it easy

play18:54

it just made it doable I think so yeah

play18:58

what do you think what do you think

play18:59

about proof writing do you have advice

play19:01

for people watching this video do you

play19:03

have any stories to tell about your

play19:04

proof writing experience what are some

play19:06

of the things you struggle with in proof

play19:08

writing

play19:09

do you think there's other books that

play19:11

are good you think any of these books

play19:12

are better than others anything anything

play19:14

that can help people who are watching

play19:16

this video

play19:18

I hope it's been helpful as always keep

play19:21

doing math

Rate This

5.0 / 5 (0 votes)

関連タグ
Demostraciones MatemáticasEscritura de PruebasMatemáticas AvanzadasAprender MatemáticasEstrategias de AprendizajeLibros de MatemáticasClases de MatemáticasCurso en LíneaYouTube MathEducación Superior
英語で要約が必要ですか?