Hi there, bit of a strange one this. I'm a biologist about to start a PhD in a field of work that requires a certain level of mathematics.

I need to understand the following: Single variable calculus; multi-variable calculus; linear algebra; differential equations; coupled partial differential equations and a certain level of understanding on non-linear and chaos dynamics.

The thing is I have no real history in mathematics, I was wondering does anyone have any links to resources where I can build up the basic foundations before studying these online courses?

Question

Hi there, bit of a strange one this.  I'm a biologist about to start a PhD in a field of work that requires a certain level of mathematics.

I need to understand the following: Single variable calculus; multi-variable calculus; linear algebra; differential equations; coupled partial differential equations and a certain level of understanding on non-linear and chaos dynamics.

The thing is I have no real history in mathematics, I was wondering does anyone have any links to resources where I can build up the basic foundations before studying these online courses?

anonymous · Answer

Hi there, I've been studying by myself to prepare for UK university exams in maths for a year now and it seems that there's no way around it but buying a text book at this level and go through it step by step. The one I have is called Understanding Pure Mathematics by A.J.Sadler, D.W.S.Thorning http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Pure-Mathematics-J-Sadler/dp/0199142432/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340189956&sr=1-1&keywords=0199142432 I found it really helpful and it bridges the content right to the beginning of these online lectures. Good luck!

anonymous · Answer

I'll give this book a go, thank you very much for the recommendation.  Hopefully it'll get me up to speed within the next few months so that the level of mathematics in the PhD placement does not seem too daunting for me, once again thank you.