How To Read Mathematics Books

Students are taught to read quickly or skim the material.

How to read mathematics books.

Instructors of other courses want students to. You should read the sentences carefully and think about their meaning. You may need as long as half an hour to get through one page but you will understand it when you re done. As you read remember that math builds upon itself.

When reading a math book take notes as a way to translate the text into your own words. Every sentence in a math book is full of information and logically linked to the surrounding sentences. This is an effective learning technique when you write down definitions theorems and explanations in your own words you are more likely to understand and remember them. If you do not understand a word you are supposed to keep on reading.

If you are reading a novel and are somewhat distracted you can still get the idea of the story. You can t read a math book the way you read other books. When you are not concentrating on math you will get very little out of it and it will seem more difficult that it really is. Students are taught to read quickly or skim the material.

A novel should be read fluently but math books cannot. If you do not understand a word you are supposed to keep on reading. The way you read a math textbook is different from the traditional way students are taught to read textbooks in high school or college. It takes a special approach to read math not just pass your eyes over it.

The flow of a math book is not like the flow of a novel.