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A Mind for Numbers

How to Excel at Math and Science (even If You Flunked Algebra)
Nov 23, 2014
I wish this book would’ve come out when I was still young; I could’ve really used a book like this back then, through high school and undergraduate college. How sad that we’re never taught exactly how to learn in school, and are expected to just pick it up or study harder. I learned about this book’s existence by taking the author’s free online course on Learning How to Learn at Coursera.org; she used much of this book’s principles for her course, and it got me interested in reading it for myself. It’s a great self-help book on explaining how to study; Barbara Oakley not only explains the things that will help you study better, but also explains it in such a way that you get it. She would know; she used to hate math and science, and eschewed it until after her stint in the armed forces when her current career was going nowhere. Don’t let the book title fool you; you can use what you learn here for any type of subject, including athletic activities like sports, and whether you’re still in school, a self-learner, or simply want to remember errands and grocery lists better without forgetting (in fact, that’s what the author implied when she advertised her book during the Coursera online course). It covers not only some of the best ways to study, but also how to memorize lists or concepts better, and how to avoid anxiety; one of the greatest strengths of this book is that there’s something for everybody (unlike books which are specifically tailored for memorizing, or procrastinating, or managing your time wisely). There’s also short quotes in each chapter from various students and professors and what they used to try to learn better, so you can also glean from their respective experiences and apply them for your own benefit. One thing I like about this book in particular, is that Barbara also covers a few chapters in the book on how procrastination works scientifically, as well as how to beat it; you can’t form a good book on how to learn better without covering a topic like that, since we all have subjects and things we hate to do, but must do. If you like this book, you might also want to consider reading “Make It Stick” by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III and Mark A. McDaniel; it’s also a recent book on learning based on scientific findings. However, I would personally read this book first, because it covers a broad range of topics, the concepts here are easily laid out, and easy to understand and apply. Highly recommended book.