Question

Self Study Plan for Prison

Answer 1

How long are you going away for? And will you have access to the internet when there?

Spend time browsing through mit opencourseware, paired with their math major roadmap, to see what subjects people take depending on their focus area. Most of them are in mit ocw and will list a set textbook, and many will have problem sets/exams with solutions. If you’ll have access to the internet then some of the early year courses, like linear algebra and differential equations, have full lectures available as well.

Answer 2

Hey! I'm sorry you'll be having to spend time in prison, but I'm glad you're using the opportunity to better yourself. Here I tried giving you an idea of things you can do. I saw you are interested in compci/programming, but as you of course know, these are pretty difficult without access to a computer. So I think it is perhaps better to focus on math for the time being and get strong in that.  


The way I see it, there are two paths available to you in studying math, and that is a path which involves proofs and one which doesn't. Proofs give a much deeper and more satisfying outlook on math, but they are also not so easy to learn. I would definitely give proofs a try though, knowing how to prove things might help you a lot in computer science, although if you end up not liking proofs then there's no harm done.  


If you want to give proofs a go, then the first book for you to do is "Velleman's How to prove it".  You might want to combine this with multivariable calculus, for which I usually recommend Lang's calculus in multiple variables, but if you like Stewart that works too. A good proofy linear algebra text would be Friedberg's Linear algebra. For discrete mathematics, I recommend Rosen. And for differential equations, Simmons is a nice book. Also interesting (but not that related to CS) would be to get your hand at a copy of Euclid's Elements, which is a book of 300 BC which tries to do geometry from scratch. It's excellent to get into proofs and to also read probably the most influential book in the history of math and science. If you do choose to get it, be sure to get a book with extensive commentary since some part of Euclid are not so easy to read.  


If you're not so interested in proofs, then you should start with continuing calc 3 from Stewart, together with discrete mathematics from Epp.  Then you should do differential equations from Boyce Diprima.  


If you're interested, I have a small online study group on discord, where I try to help interested people self-study math. If you wish, you could join us and we can discuss a bit further what would suit you best!

Answer 3

Good thing you are choosing math over meth

Answer 4

Please check out the Prison math project. They can provide you with a tutor and can get you supplies such as textbooks. I volunteer with them and they are great!

Answer 5

Concrete Mathematics by Knuth, Patashnik, and Graham

Answer 6

Would you have access to something like Udemy in prison? I'm sorry if thats a dumb question to ask but if yes then you could definitely use that. Stacking on easy to read textbook could be another way, textbooks that spend time on making sure you understand everything instead of the really consice and complicated textbooks that assume you know a lot already. Tbh if you could have access to a computer that would pretty much solve your problem.

Answer 7

Some meta advice:

- Use an old textbook. You can get an old copy of Stewart's book for $20. The exercises will be out of order, but otherwise it's basically the same book (in some cases it's exactly the same book with nothing changed but the order of a few things)
- Have a couple of options on hand. You will get overwhelmed (I mean by the math, but there may be other stressors too) and it will be nice to be able to go back and forth.
- Graph paper and a calculator is just a slow graphing calculator.

Answer 8

Make sure you spend some time studying how to be an independent contractor. I would imagine that would be a way to bypass some of the stigma that comes with jail time.

Answer 9

Stop right there, criminal scum!

Answer 10

Wait how do you study in a prison? You in Norway or something?