How to read a technical book (Physics, Chemistry, Maths, CS, engineering, etc)

If you want to read a novel or biography, go ahead.

But for a technical book which is full of concepts, mathematical equations, etc, you need to find out a suitable way to read those books. Actually, in schools and colleges, the first course should be how to read books. 

Here are some of my notes on how to read technical books.

In LinkedIn I read "not all books are for everyone". 

First answer these questions before starting to read the book.

1. As yourself "Why do I want to read this book?"
2. Go through the table of content. After that, make sure that you want to read this book.
3. Does the content of this book meet my requirement?
4. If that book contain mathematical equations, do I need paper and pencil to practice as I read; or if your book is related to computer science programming, then, do I need to practice in a computer while reading the book? Answer this question. 
5. Have I read similar book earlier or this is completely new? 

Why reading a technical book is hard?

1. book contains many technical terms
2. book contain rigorous mathematics beyond our comprehension
3. the programming book contain complicated syntax and difficult algorithms 
4. the book assumes that you have pre-requisites such as prior programming knowledge or math knowledge 

You may think that mere patience is enough to complete and comprehend and understand any technical book. Now also I am thinking so (which is going to change soon). But, this is not working.

Unless it is a must read book, check following.

You must read the perquisite first. In my opinion any technical book should mention what the author assumes to have known by the readers. But, most of the authors fail to do so. Similarly, any course description should start with perquisites. See the courses in MIT OCW. For all the courses, the prerequisites have been given which is a very good practice that everyone should adapt. A preface should contain this information.

Now steps to read the book.

1. read the preface
2. gently go through the entire book like bird eye view. In this stage, you can read the head title. But, don't even go through the subtitle. Just hover around the book once. 
3. Then, read the contents
4. Go through each chapter, subtitles, figures, tables, diagrams, etc. Just look at the equations but don't try to comprehend the equation.
5. Then, again read the contents
6. Now, go through each chapter and read the title, subtitle, first and last sentence of each paragraph. Reading the first and last sentence of any paragraph should summarize the information in that entire paragraph. A well written piece of anything (article or book) should obey this rule
7. points 1-6 should be done in a single sitting. Points 7 8 and 9 may take many days or even weeks or months to complete based on the difficulty, depth, subject, your expertise in the field, etc.
8. In the next step, go through the entire book without doing anything practical such as working out the equation in a math equation intense book or doing coding in a computer while reading. Just go through the text and everything and try to comprehend the book. While reading, take important points, write unknown things, write what you need to learn a specific part in the specific unit, etc.
9. Then, learn what you need to learn before understanding this book. Otherwise, you are wasting your time. If a particular unit uses a specific mathematical equation and you don't know its physical meaning, then what is the use? If that portion is out of your interest or you want to neglect at present, write what you omit (for later reference)
10. After that, if you read a math book, have a notebook and pen. If it is programming book, have a computer to check the code. Practice the math/programming while reading through each chapter. While doing this you can revise your notes by adding or minimizing the notes you wrote in the previous step. Once you complete this procedure, you will be a master in that subject.
11. Make sure to go through the entire book and you understand each and everything there.
12. Before completing this book, don't ready any other book either on the same topic/subject. For example, if you read Quantum Mechanics by R Shankar, you should follow the procedure till you finish the book. While you complete the first chapter of the book, don't take another book on Quantum Mechanics with some other author. No matter how much another books is better or best, once decided a book, go through it entirely. You have a way. Some concepts or portions in your selected book may be hard to understand. Note down those parts and you can check those topics in other books after completing this book. But never ever take the second book while reading the first book. This is the biggest mistake I am doing for the entire life so far. I am changing now. That is why, choosing a book for reading is the very book step. Once chosen, stick with that book. Don't go to other books. In contrast, if you are reading novel or biography books, or fiction/non-fiction you can pick one book on each category and you can switch between each of these books. 

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