Customer Reviews

How to Prove It: A Structured Approach

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I just bought this book as a supplement to help me understand Spivak's Calculus, a proof based treatment of calculus, which is the text of my analysis 1 class.

Velleman elucidates complex concepts in math extremely clearly, by carefully and thoroughly building on concepts one at a time. His explanation of basic set theory had me looking at the definitions I had already known in an entirely new, fresher and clearier perspective, like I was seeing them again for the first time. Flipping through the book at the beginning, without any knowledge of the symbols, it feels like it's written in code. Two chapters in and you'll find that voila! it is you who are writing that code, fluently.

I am eagerly anticipating finishing the book. The later chapters from my current level of understanding seem sort of incomprehensible. All the greater the sense of accomplishment however, when I reach the end and find I can read it as well as if I've learned another language.

I've been studiously working through the problems Velleman includes solved at the back of the book. This book would be *perfect* if all the problems included solutions, then I would attempt all of them, since there would be no fear of reinforcing misunderstanding by believing incorrect answers to be correct.