7 ms·

This is an absolutely phenomenal 'explorable explanation'. It methodically layers concepts to foster understanding, deploys interactivity to build intuition, an

by ftio 7y ago

This is an absolutely phenomenal 'explorable explanation'. It methodically layers concepts to foster understanding, deploys interactivity to build intuition, and on top of all that provides crisp, clear narrative on top of all of the amazing visualizations.

jakub_g 7y ago
If you enjoyed the article, check out others by the same author which are done in a similar way. For example https://ciechanow.ski/color-spaces/ https://ciechanow.ski/color-spaces/ and https://ciechanow.ski/earth-and-sun/ https://ciechanow.ski/earth-and-sun/
- RickS 7y ago
  The interactivity also reminded me of this post from Bret Victor: http://worrydream.com/LadderOfAbstraction/ http://worrydream.com/LadderOfAbstraction/
- lobo_tuerto 7y ago
  Or have a look at all his interesting articles here: https://ciechanow.ski/archives/ https://ciechanow.ski/archives/
  - Bendingo 7y ago
    Excellent - thx !
pier25 7y ago
Yeah this is amazing. Interactive learning can be super powerful for a number of topics.
joshdance 7y ago
Is there a widely known name for these types of 'explorable explanations'?
- lwb 7y ago
  Explorable Explanations is the term AFAIK. Nicky Case has a whole page of resources on the topic: https://explorabl.es/ https://explorabl.es/
philshem 7y ago
We are all sitting here in collective awe, and the JS source contains this header: > /* Dear explorer, this code works, but is by no means of high quality. Once a post is written I don't go back to the source code again and the formatting, robustness, DRYness and abstraction choices reflect that. */ https://ciechanow.ski/js/gears.js https://ciechanow.ski/js/gears.js
- softawre 7y ago
  What is your point? Are you saying that it's bad he didn't tidy up the source?
  - war1025 7y ago
    I think potentially pointing out the humility of the author. But unsure.
the_cat_kittles 7y ago
shades of brett victor
Cthulhu_ 7y ago
I wish I had sites or visualizations like this when I had to do maths, I mean for example I've had to use sin/cos/tan in all kinds of calculations without ever being explained what they actually are, and the formulas without being explained what they're good for.
greggman3 7y ago
Drives me crazy that if I suggest diagrams like this might be useful on wikipedia or documentation I mostly get downvoted into oblivion.
- imtringued 7y ago
  I'm sure a lot of users on HN are angry that this site requires JavaScript and demand it to be accessible on a text based browser.
  - anderspitman 7y ago
    Haha you might enjoy this: https://anderspitman.net/17/#curlable https://anderspitman.net/17/#curlable And of course the logical next step: https://anderspitman.net/19/#netcatable https://anderspitman.net/19/#netcatable

by ftio 7y ago

jakub_g 7y ago

If you enjoyed the article, check out others by the same author which are done in a similar way. For example https://ciechanow.ski/color-spaces/ https://ciechanow.ski/color-spaces/ and https://ciechanow.ski/earth-and-sun/ https://ciechanow.ski/earth-and-sun/

RickS 7y ago
The interactivity also reminded me of this post from Bret Victor: http://worrydream.com/LadderOfAbstraction/ http://worrydream.com/LadderOfAbstraction/
lobo_tuerto 7y ago
Or have a look at all his interesting articles here: https://ciechanow.ski/archives/ https://ciechanow.ski/archives/
- Bendingo 7y ago
  Excellent - thx !

pier25 7y ago

Yeah this is amazing. Interactive learning can be super powerful for a number of topics.

joshdance 7y ago

Is there a widely known name for these types of 'explorable explanations'?

lwb 7y ago
Explorable Explanations is the term AFAIK. Nicky Case has a whole page of resources on the topic: https://explorabl.es/ https://explorabl.es/

philshem 7y ago

We are all sitting here in collective awe, and the JS source contains this header: > /* Dear explorer, this code works, but is by no means of high quality. Once a post is written I don't go back to the source code again and the formatting, robustness, DRYness and abstraction choices reflect that. */ https://ciechanow.ski/js/gears.js https://ciechanow.ski/js/gears.js

softawre 7y ago
What is your point? Are you saying that it's bad he didn't tidy up the source?
- war1025 7y ago
  I think potentially pointing out the humility of the author. But unsure.

the_cat_kittles 7y ago

shades of brett victor

Cthulhu_ 7y ago

I wish I had sites or visualizations like this when I had to do maths, I mean for example I've had to use sin/cos/tan in all kinds of calculations without ever being explained what they actually are, and the formulas without being explained what they're good for.

greggman3 7y ago

Drives me crazy that if I suggest diagrams like this might be useful on wikipedia or documentation I mostly get downvoted into oblivion.

imtringued 7y ago
I'm sure a lot of users on HN are angry that this site requires JavaScript and demand it to be accessible on a text based browser.
- anderspitman 7y ago
  Haha you might enjoy this: https://anderspitman.net/17/#curlable https://anderspitman.net/17/#curlable And of course the logical next step: https://anderspitman.net/19/#netcatable https://anderspitman.net/19/#netcatable