Can I Read Road to Reality Without Calculus?

[Liger20]

Hello, I have a question for those of you who have read Road to Reality by Roger Penrose. I've been debating on whether or not I should read this book for ages. I have always wanted to understand science at a mathematical level rather than just a popular science and conceptual level. The thing is that I'm a senior in high school and I haven't had any math classes that are particularly advanced. I never took calculus, which I reget, but I did take a class called advanced functions. I guess in a way that class was basically like a precalculus class, but we did a lot of really random things too. I'm also taking physics right now, and I love it. Anyway, I by no means believe that these simple high school math classes are enough to get me through the mathematics in Road to Reality, but I was just wondering if it could ever be possible to read through the book and learn the math from various other sources as I go (Demystified books, Idiots guide books etc). Would this ever be possible or would it be suicide to even attempt it? If it is possible, are there any beginning books on math that I should start with? If it would be suicide, are there any books that explain the math behind this sort of science that are easier?

 

[timur]

You can just start reading it and then read other sources if you encounter something you don'd understand. Instead of distraction of reading other long books (since you don't know when you will finish them and finally get to the Road to Reality), at the first read you can just skip the mathematics you don't understand since the more you read the more you have chances to understand the things you skipped on the second read. I find it actually helps. The reason may be that your brain is secretly processing the things you struggled to understand or actually because you ave read more so the later part of the book helps to understand some of the earlier part.