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Concrete Mathematics

Donald Knuth

46 people recommended it in 23 threads, 2009–2023.

What people on Hacker News said

hintymad
Concrete Maths. I understand that this book is taught in college, but it requires very little advanced maths, and its techniques are hugely useful for high school students too.

on HN, 2023

generationP
Concrete Mathematics by Knuth and Patashnik (already mentioned for u/pmiller2) if the kid likes numbers. That's perhaps the guiding thread of the book -- it's about the beautiful (yet usually very elementary and natural) things you can do with numbers.

on HN, 2020

super_mario
I would second this by "Concrete Mathematics" by Graham, Knuth and Patashnik. This is actual university course book with very formal proofs and theory, but the subject matter is still largely accessible to serious high school students and demonstrates beautiful reasoning examples throughout.

on HN, 2020

hackermailman
Concrete Math is also a good example of a well written and engaging math book accessible to a motivated highschool student.

on HN, 2017

yesenadam
Concrete Mathematics - Knuth et al. Discrete maths, number theory, generating functions, covers most of the maths that pops up continually in programming.

on HN, 2018

Jimmc414
"Concrete Mathematics: A Foundation for Computer Science" by Knuth, Graham, and Patashnik - solid foundation in mathematical concepts and techniques, and it helped me develop a deeper understanding of mathematical notation and problem-solving.

on HN, 2023

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