I am down to the home stretch for publishing my upcoming book, “A Programmer’s Introduction to Mathematics.” I don’t have an exact publication date—I’m self publishing—but after months of editing, I’ve only got two chapters left in which to apply edits that I’ve already marked up in my physical copy. That and some notes from external reviewers, and adding jokes and anecdotes and fun exercises as time allows.
I’m committing to publishing by the end of the year. When that happens I’ll post here and also on the book’s mailing list. Here’s a sneak preview of the table of contents. And a shot of the cover design (still a work in progress)
This will probably end up being a monthly or once-every-two-months newsletter with my progress updates. I’ll probably also use this email list to send out sneak peeks of certain chapters and ask for feedback. A lot about the book is still up in the air, but now that the excitement of my PhD defense has passed, I can focus deeply on the book.
A short description of the intended audience (from the comments on this post)
My target audience is a programmer who has gotten through the standard CS education, but never felt they deeply understood math. Think of it as a step up from Kalid’s Better Explained blog (I won’t explain the basics of exponents or trigonometry), but a big step below the hard posts on this blog. I’ll emphasize connections and analogies between math and programming. Think of it as a coherent, linear version of the introductory posts on this blog with cool and nontrivial applications. I will also focus on building the skills and mindset that allows one to pick up other math books and continue learning.
More than anything, I want to keep this blog free of too much non-math, so this will be my last plug for the book until the day it’s released.
A mock cover. Look closely and you’ll see it’s got 95 pages so far.
