1.1 What is this companion for?

Studying mathematics at university is different to studying mathematics at school. This companion aims to help you make the transition to studying mathematics successfully at university. The fact that you are here, studying for a mathematics degree, means that you were very successful in your previous studies. You have an excellent foundation on which to build, but there is still a lot for you to learn!

These notes are a concise summary of what we (your lecturers) consider to be the most important points to help your transition to studying mathematics at university. If you would like to do further reading then we recommend [1], [4] and [3]. Other, more specific, guides to mathematical problem solving are [5] and [6]. These books are all available through the University Library.

This companion is primarily designed to be read before and while you study the course MATH08078 Introduction to Mathematics at University, but you should also think of it as a reference that you can come back to throughout your degree programme.