Name this Mathematics Textbook series
January 29, 2010 2:13 PM

Recently, someone described a 10-volume mathematics textbook series to me. The books were written by a single author, an engineer with a name that sounded Greek, and came with full worked solutions to every single problem, making them ideal for self study. Unfortunately, they could not remember its title, and my attempts to find it with Google and Amazon have failed. Has anyone come across this series?
posted by James Scott-Brown to Science & Nature (13 answers total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
Saxon, perchance?
posted by bz at 2:35 PM on January 29, 2010


I think the series is more advanced than Saxon.
posted by James Scott-Brown at 2:48 PM on January 29, 2010


Are you thinking of Schaum's Outline series. They have tons of different ones for lots of different math topics. (not to mention non-math subjects too.)

I have yet to find a series with as many problems as Schaum's. Answers are given for ALL problems. Worked solutions are given for about half of the problems.

If you don't find the particular course you're looking for here, just do a search using the words "Schaum's Outline" and the particular topic you're interested in, say "Trigonometry" for example.

The "Outline"s are good, the "Easy Outline"s, not so much, at least in my experience.
posted by marsha56 at 4:06 PM on January 29, 2010


maybe george tourlakis? i don't see 10 volumes, by him though.
posted by xiaolongbao at 4:06 PM on January 29, 2010


Bourbaki
posted by spasm at 4:28 PM on January 29, 2010


I was thinking Bourbaki as well.
posted by Obscure Reference at 4:49 PM on January 29, 2010


Bourbaki does not have fully worked solutions to every problem, and trying to go through it book by book for self-study would make your face melt off.
posted by escabeche at 7:45 PM on January 29, 2010


Did your acquaintance know what kind of mathematics they covered? What level?
posted by leahwrenn at 7:48 PM on January 29, 2010


+1 for "huh, sounds like Bourbaki but couldn't possibly be." Also, "he" doesn't meet the "single person" criterion.
posted by tellumo at 8:21 PM on January 29, 2010


The content was at the level of the last couple of years of HS and up. We were discussing it in the context of extension work for students before going to university, so Bourbaki is too rigorous.

I did consider Schaum's outlines, but they have way more than ten books about mathematics. Nonetheless, they're a very good alternative if I can't find the elusive series.

Also, neither Bourbaki nor Schaum meet the single author criteria (and Schaum prints the author's names on the front)
posted by James Scott-Brown at 1:43 AM on January 30, 2010


Could this be the Charuhas series of Essential Mathematics for Life?
posted by arimathea at 3:24 PM on February 1, 2010


Or maybe the James Stewart series?
posted by arimathea at 3:25 PM on February 1, 2010


Hari Kishan has written a pile of different books on maths.
posted by flutable at 4:48 AM on April 8, 2010


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