Science and Math For Adults?

Peter Trepan writes "Like most Americans, I made it through high-school and college without a thorough understanding of major scientific and mathematical concepts. I'm trying to remedy this situation both for personal betterment and so I can supplement my *own* kids' education. The problem is, most textbooks are not designed to convey an understanding of the subject, but to squeeze in all the 'facts' required by state law. I'm looking for books that don't just tell me an equation or a concept works, but also explain *why*. Would you please list books that have helped you gain a greater understanding of the basic concepts of algebra, chemistry, calculus, physics, and other core areas of science?" This is similar to an earlier question, but with a broader focus.

Comments

Maths..

[Aliencow]

0 + 1 = 1 = First Post !

Re:COMMUNITY college is not about education.

[MsGeek]

(Well, you could if you had lots of country-club pull on your side. But then you wouldn't be worrying about the admissions requirements, either.)

Paging George W. Bush...Yale just called. They want their degree back.

Re:the bible isn't a good measuring post for books

[Joey7F]

It is or is not accurate.

That's an old indian trick; a statement of totalogy ;)

--Joey

Re:Totally on the mark

[Hognoxious]

As long as what you are looking at has a scale of some kind you can actually cut out that area and weigh it on a (sensitive) scale. Then cut out a known square dimension from the same paper. Now you know what that area is relative to a certain weight...well now finding the original area just takes a little knowledge of proportions.

You could also stick a drawing of it on the wall, close your eyes, throw darts at it and estimate it from the proportion of darts landing inside/outside the shape. It's called the Monte Carlo method.