/sci/ - Science & Math

is cos(-pi) the same as cos(pi) but the result is negative?

Is Wildberger WildLinAlg playlist on YouTube a good way to learn linear algebra?

>>10797585
The problem of starting with the Greeks is that in reality very few original fragments survive. Of Thales of Miletus nothing survives, nor of Pythagoras; of Anaximenes and Anaximander just a dozen fragments; of Heraclitus less than two hundred but so short that many are useless; Only from Parmenides we have something substantial, but maybe it is not even half of his poem. This means that when you immerse yourself in the pre-Socratics, you are hearing not the ancient philosophers but the modern interpreters of the ancient philosophers.

For Plato, I would recommend that you start with the Theaetetus, then The Sophist and then the Parmenides. All three are delightful (but the Parmenides is hellishly difficult). I chose the dialogues of old age because that is where you find the most round and coherent Plato; the dialogues of youth and maturity are more tentative and provisional. Aristotle is much heavier to read, but you can start with Nicomachean ethics (after reading Plato).

I would recommend that before Plato you read the two volumes of "The Pre-Socratic Philosophers" by Jonathan Barnes (or some other such compilation) because that will give you an overview of the philosophical problems that Plato faced when he wrote his dialogues, but it is not strictly necessary.

>>9925552
>tfw 2 days until 250 essay deadline
>still haven't wrote a single thing