[sdiy] SDIY MATH GOALS--need real help!

[cheater cheater]

Learn everything you need to solve ordinary differential equations.

This includes basic algebra, calculus, complex algebra, integration
and differentiation.
Polynomials and solving are very important.

Don't go learning complex-number-based filter theory, it's useless to
understand what's going on in analog filters.
Virtual analog filters made this way are dull, boring, useless, and
have been done to death and officially defined as pointless.

There are two kinds of math books:
1. theory books
2. problem books
Number 1 gives you the whole, complete, most detailed lowdown on the
theory, including proofs. Those usually have a couple problems per
chapter that are quite difficult and don't test your muscle, they just
test if you got the principle behind the topic discussed in the
chapter.
Number 2 gives you a load of problems preceded by a few definitions
and maybe a worked out example; the problems are of increasing
difficulty and you 'learn by doing'. Meant for engineers, those books
have no stringent mathematical proofs and are usually full of
real-world examples. This is the kind of book you want.

If you want a basic book and are in the UK you can get a good A-levels
prep book for maths. Those are full of problems for you to solve.
Later go on reading university level books.

HTH
D.

On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 11:27 AM, Tom Wiltshire <tom at electricdruid.net> wrote:
>
> On 27 Feb 2009, at 03:24, Matthew Smith wrote:
>
>> Quoth Dan Snazelle at 2009-02-27 12:30...
>>>
>>> i feel i have gotten about as far as i can in understanding many
>>> electronic books and topics in the last few years without knowing ANY math
>>> beyond basic pre-algebra. I never took anything past algebra one in high
>>> school and that was in 1992 and i dont remember any of it.
>>
>> Dan, I truly sympathise - I have a similar problem.
>
> Yeah, another sympathetic ear here too. My maths is so rusty that the cogs
> don't really turn at all any longer. I was better at this stuff when I was
> 15 than I am now. Like you, I'd like to learn more, particularly the
> complex-numbers filter theory stuff.
>
> If I could work out how to get from digital filter coefficients to frequency
> responses, I'd be able to write software to design my own digital filters,
> and that'd open up a number of new avenues to me. At the moment, digital
> filters are a bit of shot in the dark.
>
> T.
>
>
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