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978-0-521-89546-0 - How to Think Like a Mathematician: A Companion to Undergraduate Mathematics
Kevin Houston
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How to Think Like a Mathematician
Looking for a head start in your undergraduate degree in mathematics? Maybe you’ve
already started your degree and feel bewildered by the subject you previously loved?
Don’t panic! This friendly companion will ease your transition to real mathematical
thinking.
Working through the book you will develop an arsenal of techniques to help you
unlock the meaning of definitions, theorems and proofs, solve problems, and write
mathematics effectively. All the major methods of proof – direct method, cases,
induction, contradiction and contrapositive – are featured. Concrete examples are used
throughout, and you’ll get plenty of practice on topics common to many courses such as
divisors, Euclidean Algorithm, modular arithmetic, equivalence relations, and injectivity
and surjectivity of functions.
The material has been tested by real students over many years so all the essentials are
covered. With over 300 exercises to help you test your progress, you’ll soon learn how to
think like a mathematician.
Essential for any starting undergraduate in mathematics, this book can also help
if you’re studying engineering or physics and need access to undergraduate mathematics
topics, or if you’re taking a subject that requires logic such as computer science,
philosophy or linguistics.
© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press
978-0-521-89546-0 - How to Think Like a Mathematician: A Companion to Undergraduate Mathematics
Kevin Houston
Frontmatter
More information
© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press
978-0-521-89546-0 - How to Think Like a Mathematician: A Companion to Undergraduate Mathematics
Kevin Houston
Frontmatter
More information
How to Think Like a
Mathematician
A Companion to Undergraduate Mathematics
KE VIN H OUSTON
University of Leeds
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Cambridge University Press
978-0-521-89546-0 - How to Think Like a Mathematician: A Companion to Undergraduate Mathematics
Kevin Houston
Frontmatter
More information
University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom
Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge.
It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of
education, learning and research at the highest internationa l levels of excellence.
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521895460
© K. Houston 2009
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2009
11th printing 2015
Printed in the United States of America by Sheridan Books, Inc.
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Houston, Kevin, 1968–
How to think like a mathematician : a companion to undergraduate mathematics / Kevin Houston.
p. cm.
Includes index.
1. Mathematics–Study and teaching (Higher)–United States.
I. Title.
QA13.H68 2009
510–dc22
2008034663
ISBN 978-0-521-89546-0 Hardback
ISBN 978-0-521-71978-0 Paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or
accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to
in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such
websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
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Cambridge University Press
978-0-521-89546-0 - How to Think Like a Mathematician: A Companion to Undergraduate Mathematics
Kevin Houston
Frontmatter
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To Mum and Dad – Thanks for everything.
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Cambridge University Press
978-0-521-89546-0 - How to Think Like a Mathematician: A Companion to Undergraduate Mathematics
Kevin Houston
Frontmatter
More information
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Cambridge University Press
978-0-521-89546-0 - How to Think Like a Mathematician: A Companion to Undergraduate Mathematics
Kevin Houston
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Contents
Preface Page ix
I Study skills for mathematicians 1
1 Sets and functions 3
2 Reading mathematics 14
3 Writing mathematics I 21
4 Writing mathematics II 35
5 How to solve problems 41
II How to think logically 51
6 Making a statement 53
7 Implications 63
8 Finer points concerning implications 69
9 Converse and equivalence 75
10 Quantifiers – For all and There exists 80
11 Complexity and negation of quantifiers 84
12 Examples and counterexamples 90
13 Summary of logic 96
III Definitions, theorems and proofs 97
14 Definitions, theorems and proofs 99
15 How to read a definition 103
16 How to read a theorem 109
17 Proof 116
18 How to read a proof 119
19 A study of Pythagoras’ Theorem 126
IV Techniques of proof 137
20 Techniques of proof I: Direct method 139
21 Some common mistakes 149
22 Techniques of proof II: Proof by cases 155
23 Techniques of proof III: Contradiction 161
24 Techniques of proof IV: Induction 166
vii
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978-0-521-89546-0 - How to Think Like a Mathematician: A Companion to Undergraduate Mathematics
Kevin Houston
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viii Contents
25 More sophisticated induction techniques 175
26 Techniques of proof V: Contrapositive method 180
V Mathematics that all good mathematicians need 185
27 Divisors 187
28 The Euclidean Algorithm 196
29 Modular arithmetic 208
30 Injective, surjective, bijective – and a bit about infinity 218
31 Equivalence relations 230
VI Closing remarks 241
32 Putting it all together 243
33 Generalization and specialization 248
34 True understanding 252
35 The biggest secret 255
Appendices 257
A Greek alphabet 257
B Commonly used symbols and notation 258
C How to prove that … 260
Index 263
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978-0-521-89546-0 - How to Think Like a Mathematician: A Companion to Undergraduate Mathematics
Kevin Houston
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Preface
Question: How many months have 28 days?
Mathematician’s answer: All of them.
The power of mathematics
Mathematics is the most powerful tool we have. It controls our world. We can use it to
put men on the moon. We use it to calculate how much insulin a diabetic should take. It
is hard to get right.
And yet. And yet . . . And yet people who use or like mathematics are considered geeks
or nerds.1 And yet mathematics is considered useless by most people – throughout history
children at school have whined ‘When am I ever going to use this?’
Why would anyone want to become a mathematician?As mentioned earlier mathematics
is a very powerful tool. Jobs that use mathematics are often well-paid and people do tend
to be impressed. There are a number of responses from non-mathematicians when meeting
a mathematician, the most common being ‘I hated maths at school. I wasn’t any good at
it’, but another common response is ‘You must be really clever.’
The concept
The aim of this book is to divulge the secrets of how a mathematician actually thinks. As I
went through my mathematical career, there were many instances when I thought, ‘I wish
someone had told me that earlier.’ This is a collection of such advice. Well, I hope it is
more than such a collection. I wish to present an attitude – a way of thinking and doing
mathematics that works – not just a collection of techniques (which I will present as well!)
If you are a beginner, then studying high-level mathematics probably involves using
study skills new to you. I will not be discussing generic study skills necessary for success –
time management, note taking, exam technique and so on; for this information you must
look elsewhere.
I want you to be able to think like a mathematician and so my aim is to give you a book
jam-packed with practical advice and helpful hints on how to acquire skills specific to
1
Add your own favourite term of abuse for the intelligent but unstylish.
ix
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978-0-521-89546-0 - How to Think Like a Mathematician: A Companion to Undergraduate Mathematics
Kevin Houston
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x Preface
thinking like a mathematician. Some points are subtle, others appear obvious when you
have been told them. For example, when trying to show that an equation holds you should
take the most complicated side and reduce it until you get to the other side (page 143).
Some advice involves high-level mathematical thinking and will be too sophisticated for
a beginner – so don’t worry if you don’t understand it all immediately.
How to use this book
Each part has a different style as it deals with a different idea or set of ideas. The book
contains a lot of information and, like most mathematics books, you can’t read it like a
novel in one sitting.
Some friendly advice
And now for some friendly advice that you have probably heard before – but is worth
repeating.
• It’s up to you – Your actions are likely to be the greatest determiner of the outcome
of your studies. Consider the ancient proverb: The teacher can open the door, but you
must enter by yourself.
• Be active – Read the book. Do the exercises set.
• Think for yourself – Always good advice.
• Question everything – Be sceptical of all results presented to you. Don’t accept them
until you are sure you believe them.
• Observe – The power of Sherlock Holmes came not from his deductions but his
observations.
• Prepare to be wrong – You will often be told you are wrong when doing mathematics.
Don’t despair; mathematics is hard, but the rewards are great. Use it to spur yourself on.
• Don’t memorize – seek to understand – It is easy to remember what you truly understand.
• Develop your intuition – But don’t trust it completely.
• Collaborate – Work with others, if you can, to understand the mathematics. This isn’t
a competition. Don’t merely copy from them though!
• Reflect – Look back and see what you have learned. Ask yourself how you could have
done better.
To instructors and lecturers – a moment of your valuable time
One of my colleagues recently complained to me that when a student is given a statement
of the form A implies B to prove their method of proof is generally wholly inadequate.
He jokingly said, the student assumes A, works with that for a bit, uses the fact that B is
true and so concludes that A is true. How can it be that so many students have such a hard
time constructing logical arguments that form the backbone of proofs?
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978-0-521-89546-0 - How to Think Like a Mathematician: A Companion to Undergraduate Mathematics
Kevin Houston
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Preface xi
I wish I had an answer to this. This book is an attempt at an answer. It is not a theo-
retical manifesto. The ideas have been tried and tested from years of teaching to improve
mathematical thinking in my students. I hope I have provided some good techniques to
get them onto the path of understanding.
If you want to use this book, then I suggest you take your favourite bits or pick some
techniques that you know your own students find hard, as even I think that students cannot
swallow every piece of advice in this book in a single course. One aim in my own teaching
is to be inspirational to students. Mathematics should be exciting. If the students feel this
excitement, they are motivated to study and, as in the proverb quoted above, will enter
by themselves. I aim to make them free to explore, give them the tools to climb the
mountains, and give them their own compasses so they can explore other mathematical
lands. Achieving this is hard, as you know, and it is often not lack of time, resources,
help from the university or colleagues that is the problem. Often, through no fault of their
own, it is the students themselves. Unfortunately, they are not taught to have a questioning
nature, they are taught to have an answering nature. They expect us to ask questions and
for them to give the answers because that is they way they have been educated. This book
aims to give them the questions they need to ask so they don’t need me anymore.
I’d just like to thank . . .
This book has had a rather lengthy genesis and so there are many people to thank for
influencing me or my choice of contents. Some of the material appeared in a booklet of
the same name, given to all first-year Mathematics students at the University of Leeds, and
so many students and staff have given their opinions on it over the years. The booklet was
available on the web, and people from around the world have sent unsolicited comments.
My thanks go toAhmedAli, John Bibby, Garth Dales, Tobias Gläßer, Chris Robson, Sergey
Klokov, Katy Mills, Mike Robinson and Rachael Smith, and to students at the University
of Leeds and at the University of Warwick who were first subjected to my wild theories
and experiments (and whose names I have forgotten). Many thanks to David Franco,
Margit Messmer, Alan Slomson and Maria Veretennikova for reading a preliminary draft.
Particular thanks to Margit and Alan with whom I have had many fruitful discussions. My
thanks to an anonymous referee and all the people at the Cambridge University Press who
were involved in publishing this book, in particular, Peter Thompson.
Lastly, I would like to thank my gorgeous wife Carol for putting up with me while I was
writing this book and for putting the sunshine in my life.
Kevin Houston
Leeds, England
www.kevinhouston.net
mailto: k.houston@leeds.ac.uk
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