If you’ve been reading along with my posts on exercises from “Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs” (SICP), this is going to come pretty late. The book is a math-heavy text. It expects you to know the math it presents already, so for someone like me who got a typical non-math approach to math in school, it seems abrupt, but not stifling. If you’re wondering what I mean by “non-math approach,” I talked about it in “The beauty of mathematics denied,” James Lockhart also talked about it in “A Mathematician’s Lament.”
I’ve been reading a book called, “Mathematics in 10 Lessons: The Grand Tour,” by Jerry King (I referred to another book by King in “The beauty of mathematics denied”), and it’s helped me better understand the math presented in SICP. I could recommend this book, but I’m sure it’s not the only one that would suffice. As I’ve gone through King’s book, I’ve had some complaints about it. He tried to write it for people with little to no math background, but I think he only did an “okay” job with that. I think it’s possible there’s another book out there that does a better job at accomplishing the same goal.
What I recommend is getting a book that helps you understand math from a mathematician’s perspective before getting into SICP, since the typical math education a lot of students get doesn’t quite get you up to its level. It’s not essential, as I’ve been able to get some ways through SICP without this background, but I think having it would have helped make going through this book a little easier.
This is one of a series of “bread crumb” articles I’ve written. To see more like this, go to the Bread Crumbs page.
Tekkie 