since you ask specifically about "the meaning of things", this might be what you are looking for:

<A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Elementary-Approach-Ideas-Methods/dp/0195105192/ref=pd_sim_b_title_2/002-2775545-7002437?tag=viglink20267-20">What Is Mathematics? An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods</A>

> For more than two thousand years a familiarity with mathematics has
> been regarded as an indispensable part of the intellectual equipment
> of every cultured person. Today, unfortunately, the traditional place
> of mathematics in education is in grave danger. The teaching and
> learning of mathematics has degenerated into the realm of rote
> memorization, the outcome of which leads to satisfactory formal
> ability but does not lead to real understanding or to greater
> intellectual independence. This new edition of Richard Courant's and
> Herbert Robbins's classic work seeks to address this problem. Its goal
> is to put the **meaning** back into mathematics.