Name: No bullshit guide to math and physics
ISBN: 9780992001001

No bullshit guide to math and physics

Often calculus and mechanics are taught as separate subjects. It shouldn't be like that. Learning calculus without mechanics is incredibly boring. Learning mechanics without calculus is missing the point. This textbook integrates both subjects and highlights the profound connections between them. This is the deal. Give me 350 pages of your attention, and I'll teach you everything you need to know about functions, limits, derivatives, integrals, vectors, forces, and accelerations. This book is the only math book you'll need for the first semester of undergraduate studies in science. With concise, jargon-free lessons on topics in math and physics, each section covers one concept at the level required for a first-year university course. Anyone can pick up this book and become proficient in calculus and mechanics, regardless of their mathematical background.

What Hacker News says

DelphizaApr 2026

https://minireference.com/

"The No Bullshit Guide to Math and Physics"

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ivansavzNov 2025

Good question. I had to think about it.

In general, the No Bullshit Guide textbooks (of which there are four) differ from other textbooks by being intensely focussed on learner needs: they are written in a conversational stile, get to the point, explain the WHY? behind concepts, and focus on applications rather than theory and formal proofs

This book specifically is special because it uses a computational approach to explain the core ideas of statistics like sampling distributions. Think for loop that generates random samples, computes their means, and plots the results. This allows readers to understand what's going on directly rather than rely on formulas or predefined procedures (recipes) for statistical analysis. See here for more about the UVP of this book: https://minireference.com/blog/nobsstats-sales-pitch/#:~:tex...

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ivansavzMay 2025

Nice to see adults (re)learning math. It's one of the rare subjects that are guaranteed to provide "knowledge buzz" and also widely applicable.

<shameless plug>For other adults interested in learning math, check out my (nonfree) book here: https://noBSmath.com/ PDF preview and sample chapter: https://minireference.com/static/excerpts/noBSmath_v5_previe... I also have a longer book that includes calculus and physics (cf. links in profile). </shameless plug>

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SoleilAbsoluMar 2025

For a book for adult learners I recommend (and am working my way through) Ivan Savov's No Bullshit Guide to Math & Physics. Here's a link to a sample from the author's site. I find it a great resource for brushing up on my math(s) to explore audio DSP.

https://minireference.com/static/excerpts/noBSguide_v5_previ...

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Optimal_PersonaJan 2025

I'm in a similar situation but a decade older. My "aha" moment came with Ivan Savov's "No Bullshit Guide to Math & Physics". For some reason working through this book "sticks" in a way that Khan Academy and similar online tools haven't. That, combined with randomly reading entries in "Mathematics 1001" have gotten me to where I can read through audio acoustics/DSP and information theory papers (my main area of interest) and understand what's going on.

https://minireference.com/

https://books.google.com/books/about/Mathematics_1001.html?i...

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Optimal_PersonaOct 2024

I'm probably an atypical calculus learner. I'm middle aged and brushing up on my math(s)/physics so I can do audio DSP, understand the acoustics/physics of musical instruments, and explore patterns in nature - all for personal/artistic reasons rather than job-related (for now :-)).

I had an "a-ha" moment when I came across Ivan Savov's "No Bullshit Guide to Math and Physics" about 6 weeks ago in terms of finding a resource that meets my needs perfectly. I personally find it useful to work through a certain number of problems by hand so I understand the concepts, as well as how folks did the work before the advent of computers. I'm also the kind of person who will type out examples by hand when learning a new computer language so I can get a feel for it.

https://minireference.com/static/excerpts/noBSguide_v5_previ...

I find learning calculus & physics together is a good mix for me especially in light of my musical/DSP interests. FWIW just in these 6 weeks - I've been able to read through things like Claude Shannon's classic Theory of Information or Manfred Schroeder's books on chaos/fractals and number theory and get the gist of the math in a way I couldn't before.

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