Maths books to read before university
Good books for sixth formers who are curious about maths, getting ready for a degree, or looking for something real to talk about in a personal statement.
You don't need to read all of these. Pick one or two that sound fun and read them properly. Your school or local library can usually get them, and many are on library apps as ebooks.
Getting ready for a maths degree
- How to Study for a Mathematics Degree by Lara Alcock. A friendly, practical guide to the jump from school maths to university maths: proofs, lectures and how to study. Great for the summer before you start.
- How to Think Like a Mathematician by Kevin Houston. Teaches you how to read and write proofs, with lots of exercises. Very good preparation for first-year analysis.
- Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction by Timothy Gowers. A Fields Medal winner explains what mathematicians actually do, in a short and clear book.
- Advanced Problems in Mathematics by Stephen Siklos. Written for STEP preparation, with worked problems and hints. It's free to read online or download.
The big stories
- Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh. The story of a problem that stayed unsolved for more than 350 years, and the mathematician who finally proved it. A great first maths book if you've never read one.
- The Music of the Primes by Marcus du Sautoy. The hunt for patterns in the prime numbers, and the Riemann Hypothesis, which is still unsolved.
- The Man Who Knew Infinity by Robert Kanigel. The life of Srinivasa Ramanujan, the self-taught genius from India who worked with G. H. Hardy in Cambridge.
- A Mathematician's Apology by G. H. Hardy. A short, personal essay from 1940 about why pure maths is beautiful. Worth arguing with as much as agreeing with.
Maths in the real world
- The Art of Statistics by David Spiegelhalter. How to learn from data without being fooled. Great if you're thinking about statistics, data science or economics. Spiegelhalter was also one of the speakers at Meet the Mathematicians in 2012.
- How Not to Be Wrong by Jordan Ellenberg. How mathematical thinking helps with everyday questions, from lotteries to elections.
- Hello World by Hannah Fry. How algorithms make decisions about our health, justice, cars and more.
- Infinite Powers by Steven Strogatz. The story of calculus and why it runs the modern world. Perfect alongside A Level calculus.
- 17 Equations That Changed the World by Ian Stewart. One equation per chapter, from Pythagoras' theorem to the Black-Scholes equation in finance.
Just for fun
- Humble Pi by Matt Parker. Real stories of maths mistakes, from wobbly bridges to computer bugs. Very funny.
- Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos. A tour of the world of numbers, from counting to infinity.
- Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension by Matt Parker. Puzzles and ideas you can try with a pen and paper.
Using a book in your personal statement
Admissions tutors read lots of statements that list the same famous books. A list doesn't impress anyone. What works is showing that you really engaged with one idea:
- Pick one idea from the book that surprised you.
- Go further with it: work through a proof yourself, try a related problem on NRICH, or read about it somewhere else.
- Write what you did and what you learned in a few sentences, and be ready to talk about it at an interview.
Never mention a book you haven't actually read. If you get an interview, there's a good chance you'll be asked about it. For the rest of the statement, see our personal statement guide.
Last updated October 2026.