lagwagon555
Aug4-07, 11:01 PM
Hi all,
First post here, so hello!
Anyway, im a 16 year old high school student. I have always had an interest in astronomy which led to, over the last few years, an interest in cosmology. I have read a whole lot of 'popular scientist' type material on cosmology, Brief History of Time, ect ect. Anyway, im at the point now where im repeating myself.
Instead of someone telling me 'equations say this is the case', I want to be able to understand the maths behind it. Unfortunately, I am a 16 year old kid in New Zealand. The education system over here doesn't include any calculus in maths (oh why didn't I stay in england!). So, by the looks of it, I'm aiming to teach myself all the maths required for understanding cosmology. I'm in my final year of school now, so I have quite a good grasp of algebra, and other basic maths. The first thing I want to teach myself is basic calculus, as that opens a lot of doorways.
SO can anyone reccomend a good book (or if more then one, if it helps!) to learn calculus, quite literally from scratch. I guess I have a teacher for help, but I wouldn't count on them knowing much. I have been looking at some precalculus books, and I dont know everything taught inside them, so I think I also need to learn precalculus. Also, if anyone has any experience in cosmology, can anyone reccomend books where I can begin applying maths to it?
I might be biting of a bigger chunk then I can chew, as I know this is what universities educate people to do. But I have self taught myself a lot of things (I'm fluent in Esperanto, an international language I self taught myself over the internet). So any advice is hugely appreciated!
Thanks
Richard
First post here, so hello!
Anyway, im a 16 year old high school student. I have always had an interest in astronomy which led to, over the last few years, an interest in cosmology. I have read a whole lot of 'popular scientist' type material on cosmology, Brief History of Time, ect ect. Anyway, im at the point now where im repeating myself.
Instead of someone telling me 'equations say this is the case', I want to be able to understand the maths behind it. Unfortunately, I am a 16 year old kid in New Zealand. The education system over here doesn't include any calculus in maths (oh why didn't I stay in england!). So, by the looks of it, I'm aiming to teach myself all the maths required for understanding cosmology. I'm in my final year of school now, so I have quite a good grasp of algebra, and other basic maths. The first thing I want to teach myself is basic calculus, as that opens a lot of doorways.
SO can anyone reccomend a good book (or if more then one, if it helps!) to learn calculus, quite literally from scratch. I guess I have a teacher for help, but I wouldn't count on them knowing much. I have been looking at some precalculus books, and I dont know everything taught inside them, so I think I also need to learn precalculus. Also, if anyone has any experience in cosmology, can anyone reccomend books where I can begin applying maths to it?
I might be biting of a bigger chunk then I can chew, as I know this is what universities educate people to do. But I have self taught myself a lot of things (I'm fluent in Esperanto, an international language I self taught myself over the internet). So any advice is hugely appreciated!
Thanks
Richard