Preface The Goal of This Book
Welcome to What Do Mathematicians Do?! This book is different in its aim from most mathematics texts that you’ll encounter. Rather than attempting to dig into a specific area within mathematics (calculus, algebra, topology...) What Do Mathematicians Do? provides a look at what we do as mathematicians in general.
Who is this book for?
Incoming math majors often choose their major because of the success they had in high school. Others switch into it after deciding another STEM major wasn’t for them, and guess which credits they had in their pocket already? But what do math majors actually do? And not just during school, but after graduation as well?
This text is intended for a first-time or prospective math major (or even minor!) to get a glimpse of things on the path that they will soon be walking along.
What this book is not.
This book is certainly not exhaustive in any sense. We will not turn over every stone on any given subject, and will frankly look at several subjects at just a surface level. And that’s okay! We’re here just to start some conversations, and you should feel free to chat with your instructor if there’s anything here that leaves you wanting more; we’re sure they’d be more than happy to recommend future courses or directed studies that will help you advance those mathematical inquries!
So what is the point of this book?
In short, this book seeks to introduce students to the wonderful world of mathematics and its vibrant community.
In particular, we hope to introduce
- the culture of the mathematics community, both locally within a local college or university, and across broader worldwide community of mathematicians,
- snapshots of novel math topics that (tragically!) aren’t often explored in the typical high school math classroom, and
- skills to maximize success in a mathematics program.
Not to mention: we hope to have some fun while doing it!
The secret to success....
The single best practice for this course is just showing up with a good attitude and a curiosity to learn more about mathematics.
Let’s get started!
