Euclid's Elements
Euclid
23 people recommended it in 7 threads, 2009–2023.
What people on Hacker News said
So every student studies Greek, Latin, French, Western classical music, mathematics from the source (like Euclid's Elements and Newton's Principia), physics from the source, chemistry, history, etc. No modern textbooks rehashing information, so theoretically, no passive learning.
It is utterly comprehensible to any reader who has time, paper and pencil, and a copy of Euclid.
Studying Euclid changed my entire perspective. I don't think I'd have had the self-belief to do programming without having read it.
I don't understand the "these days". Does Geometry decay? Or logic? What is the half-life of a Pythagoras' right-triangle theorem?
Reading Euclid's Elements and Newton's Principia really helped me get an intuitive feel for geometry and calculus.
150 years ago, every person hoping to do anything vaguely mathematical should probably have read Elements.
Where it comes up
- Ask HN: Math books that made you significantly better at math? 2023 · 7 recommendations
- St. John’s Reading List: A Great Books Curriculum 2023 · 6 recommendations
- What is the single most influential book every programmer should read? 2011 · 5 recommendations
- Ask HN: What are the most eye-opening textbooks you have ever read? 2023 · 2 recommendations
- Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020? 2019 · 1 recommendation
- Classic Mathematics Books for Lifelong Learners 2019 · 1 recommendation
- Students Ace Textbook Physics While Struggling With Basic Understanding (video) 2009 · 1 recommendation