Soviet math textbooks difficulty discussed
The gist
A Quora answer tied Soviet math and physics textbook difficulty to scarce lab equipment and computers.
The thread contrasts resource-poor Soviet training with US abundance, and the books still circulate.
How it unfolded
- Mar 27, 2017A Quora answer by Scott Miller, with 245 upvotes and 122,306 views, argued that the difficulty of Soviet math and physics textbooks is partly linked to scarce lab equipment and computers, citing his 1992 stay in Protvino.
- recentlyA social media post described Problem Book in High-School Mathematics, edited by A. I. Prilepko, as over 2,000 graded problems compiled from entrance exams of the USSR's top technical universities.
- recentlyA post described Ill-Posed Problems in the Natural Sciences, edited by Academician A. N. Tikhonov and A. V. Goncharsky, part of a Mir Publishers mathematics and mechanics series.