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I am a high school student with a particular interest in mathematics and computer science. I have always been intrigued by recreational mathematics (who hasn't been?) and more advance concepts, everything from knot theory to combinatorics. Of course, I can only understand very basic summaries of ideas in some of these branches of maths, as I have just finished Calc 3, so I am obviously unable to understand the advanced concepts many areas of maths hold.

I was just wondering if anyone had any interesting papers that I could read? I don't have math class presently, but I would very much like to keep learning. Of course, the papers can be in almost any area of mathematics, and as long as they aren't super advanced, I would be willing to do extra research to understand them if I have to. Thanks in advance for anyone who does!

(Of course, I could just search the internet, but I was wondering what other math enthusiasts have to say about the topic.)

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 If this question is to stay open (it might not), let's at least make it Community Wiki. @profiles: this site is generally geared toward the research interests of professional mathematicians. It's possible that the regulars here will cut your query a little slack on account of your age, but you should know that that would be departing somewhat from the norm. Please see the faq for other possible sites of interest for you. – Todd Trimble Jan 29 at 2:41
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 This site is intended for research-level mathematics questions. I recommend math.stackexchange.com, which is much better suited for this kind of question (and I found invaluable when I was a high school student). – Alex Becker Jan 29 at 2:41

closed as off topic by Igor Pak, Felipe Voloch, Daniel Moskovich, Andy Putman, Misha Jan 29 at 3:12

1 Answer

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Read this article by Sir Michael Atiyah

http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/gowers/gowers_VIII_6.pdf

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 This article comes from the excellent Princeton Companion to Mathematics. If you (profiles117...) can get hold of a copy, you might enjoy browsing it. Certainly it's pitched at a level significantly higher than you're likely to be used to. Nevertheless, you might find that it gives you an impression of what the wide world of mathematics looks like. – Tom Leinster Jan 29 at 2:22
-1 this is not a mathematical(!) paper, and the question is about this. (Now, the Princeton Companion in general that would be a different matter.) – quid Jan 29 at 8:04
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 Disagree. He didn't ask for a math paper: "I was just wondering if anyone had any interesting papers that I could read?" And this is not a paper as irrelevant as, say, sociology, either. I think this article is more than interesting, specially for a beginner. – Mahdi Majidi-Zolbanin Jan 29 at 13:24
OP says "Of course, the papers can be in almost any area of mathematics and as long as they aren't super advanced, I would be willing to do extra research to understand them if I have to." (emphasis mine). Please kindly let me know in which area of mathematics is the paper you mention. – quid Jan 31 at 11:38
Dear quid: while this response itself is seriously what I mean, my act of responding is less serious now. As you quoted above, the OP wrote "can be" rather than "must be". My understanding is that the OP was looking for any interesting paper in mathematics or related to mathematics and this paper is written by a mathematician and appears in a chapter entitled: Advice to a young mathematician inside a mathematics book. In any case, can we just disagree and leave it like that? :) – Mahdi Majidi-Zolbanin Jan 31 at 15:19
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