Measurement
#759 of 2,654 all-time
Measurement
Paul Lockhart
9 people recommended it in 6 threads, 2015–2023.
What people on Hacker News said
A good book for really grokking geometric proofs and understanding "mathematical beauty", rather than just cranking through algebraic proofs step by step.
The first is not by any means very advanced/interesting mathematics per se, but it is written by somebody with an incredible passion for mathematics, which you can feel throughout the whole book, and which was totally novel for me coming from schoolish mathematics drudgery.
It's a great book and if I'd been taught math like this when I was younger I'd be a math major right now.
He starts with some simple concepts, like length, and goes on to develop Geometry and then Calculus while encouraging the reader to consider various questions along the way.
I have not yet become significantly better, and not a math book, but I recently read A mathematicians Lament by Paul Lockhart and it resonated so much with me that I plan to take another stab at math different from how it is taught in school.
Where it comes up
- Ask HN: Math books that made you significantly better at math? 2023 · 2 recommendations
- Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study? 2022 · 2 recommendations
- Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days? 2015 · 2 recommendations
- Ask HN: Recommend a maths book for a teenager? 2020 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: Are there books for mathematics like Feynman's lectures on physics? 2019 · 1 recommendation
- Classic Mathematics Books for Lifelong Learners 2019 · 1 recommendation