Category Theory Illustrated is a primer in category theory and other mathematical theories that is made to be really accessible to people with no prior exposure to the subject, without being dumbed down, by utilizing visual explanations.
The book serves as chapter 0 going through the gist of the material covered by other similar introductory books, but doing so in a way that would enable non-mathematicians to easily comprehend.
“The range of applications for category theory is immense, and visually conveying meaning through illustration is an indispensable skill for organizational and technical work. Unfortunately, the foundations of category theory, despite much of their utility and simplicity being on par with Venn Diagrams, are locked behind resources that assume far too much academic background.
Should category theory be considered for this academic purpose or any work wherein clear thinking and explanations are valued, beginner-appropriate resources are essential. There is no book on category theory that makes its abstractions so tangible as “Category Theory Illustrated” does. I recommend it for programmers, managers, organizers, designers, or anyone else who values the structure and clarity of information, processes, and relationships.”
Evan Burchard, Author of “The Web Game Developer’s Cookbook” and “Refactoring JavaScript”
“The clarity, consistency and elegance of diagrams in ‘Category Theory Illustrated’ has helped us demystify and explain in simple terms a topic often feared.”
Gonzalo Casas, Software developer and lecturer at ETH Zurich
I want to make this book into the best introductory text, not only to category theory, but to mathematics as a whole. It seems that I would need some help, though:
I am looking for a publisher who is willing to release this book on paper. I have some more content that I can provide for the printed version. I am very flexible for the most part.
I am also looking for co-authors and/or technical reviewers with good experience in category theory, who are willing to help with polishing and enriching the text.
Regular contributors are also welcome — anything from correcting some spelling mistakes to giving suggestions for new sections and chapters.
Even if this is the first book on math you read, you can still help me — let me know what parts are hard for you to understand and let’s figure out why.
You can contact me via email. For other means of contact, see the footer.