- #1
lagwagon555
- 60
- 1
Hi all,
First post here, so hello!
Anyway, I am 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, I am at the point now where I am 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 don't 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, I am 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, I am at the point now where I am 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 don't 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
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