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A review by emmanuelbg
How to Prove It: A Structured Approach by Daniel J. Velleman
4.0
I had seen this book being recommended on math forums for people interested in honing their proof-writing skills. I certainly fitted the category, so I decided to give this a try.
Mr. Velleman does not disappoint with this beautiful exposition of the art of writing proofs. It's clear, didactic and very entertaining.
Maybe it has something to do with how the concept of a mathematical proof strikes me as beautiful, but throughout the entirebook I couldn't help but smile and be in awe at the sublime art which is mathematics.
I can't, however, rate this 5 stars due to what I considered a somewhat lacking explanation of set-related concepts. Once you get to the chapter on relations or infinite sets, the shaky foundations laid haphazardly on the early chapters clearly shows. It's a shame because I was excited to dig into the Cantor-Schröder-Bernstein theorem. Alas, one can't have everything in life.
Solid book, worth a careful read.
Mr. Velleman does not disappoint with this beautiful exposition of the art of writing proofs. It's clear, didactic and very entertaining.
Maybe it has something to do with how the concept of a mathematical proof strikes me as beautiful, but throughout the entirebook I couldn't help but smile and be in awe at the sublime art which is mathematics.
I can't, however, rate this 5 stars due to what I considered a somewhat lacking explanation of set-related concepts. Once you get to the chapter on relations or infinite sets, the shaky foundations laid haphazardly on the early chapters clearly shows. It's a shame because I was excited to dig into the Cantor-Schröder-Bernstein theorem. Alas, one can't have everything in life.
Solid book, worth a careful read.