The page you are reading is part of a draft (v2.0) of the "No bullshit guide to math and physics."
The text has since gone through many edits and is now available in print and electronic format. The current edition of the book is v4.0, which is a substantial improvement in terms of content and language (I hired a professional editor) from the draft version.
I'm leaving the old wiki content up for the time being, but I highly engourage you to check out the finished book. You can check out an extended preview here (PDF, 106 pages, 5MB).
[ A very good intro to math and the basic rules… funny that he starts off exactly like my solving_equations. Good read for the beginner. ]
http://www.jerf.org/working/learningMathematics.html
[ Cool article that makes many good points about why mathematics is important. ]
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ericlippert/archive/2004/08/11/math-is-everywhere.aspx
quote: Mathematics, particularly statistics, is everywhere in our technological world. To deny the practicality of mathematics is to say " I choose to be powerless in a world where a technological/political/scientific aristocracy understands and controls the systems upon which my life depends. I choose to be unable to understand those systems and unable to communicate effectively with the people who create them. I choose to be a person who cannot make a difference. "
[ Math = power tools, says the following article in thee NY Times]
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/power-tools/?hp