Interesting Maths for High Schoolers | Learn Offbeat Maths

[Solidmozza]

Hi,
I didnt know where to exactly put this thread (since it is partially high-school related) so I put it here.
Im in my last year in high school at the moment and want to learn some maths that you don't ordinarily do in high school - something offbeat or such. I am really not sure where a good place to start is, so any suggestions of things that I could learn that would be interesting would be very helpful.
Thanks!

 

[kreil]

I'm a freshman in college now, and majoring in mathematics. Last year I felt the same way- I wanted to learn something a little different than standard calculus.. so I started reading books on number theory. I highly recommend the book 'the music of the primes'. It is easy to follow and takes you through many results of number theory, including the work of Gauss and Riemman.

If you aren't sure you're into number theory, you can find many books in the scientific american book club for decent prices covering many areas of maths.

 

[Gokul43201]

Hi,
I didnt know where to exactly put this thread (since it is partially high-school related) so I put it here.
Im in my last year in high school at the moment and want to learn some maths that you don't ordinarily do in high school - something offbeat or such. I am really not sure where a good place to start is, so any suggestions of things that I could learn that would be interesting would be very helpful.
Thanks!

Modulo Arithmetic is really within reach of a high school student, and can be used to do some really neat things. You could check it out in some introductory Number Theory book.

 

[serge]

I would suggest p-addic numbers, which i find fascinating, and are understandable by a high school student (perhaps not otrogradsky's therorem, but..)

The definition of the distance btw p-addic number is the most difficult thing, but what a joy when you realize that there can be other distances than the usual |a-b| !

 

[Solidmozza]

Got that book - The music of the Primes.. Its a really interesting book that fits the bill so perfectly. Thanks for recommending it!
~Ill be looking into P-adic numbers too sometime soon! Thanks again