4 ms·

(2002) Previous discussions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6187014 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6187014 2013, 119 comments https://news.ycombi

• ngai_aku 3y ago
  Have you read the book? I came across it for the first time last week, and I’m considering purchasing it. The ebook is more affordable, but I wasn’t sure if it had diagrams, etc that would make me prefer a physical copy.
  • nohaydeprobleme 3y ago
    Though I'm not the same commenter, I did read the book. The book has diagrams, though they are more like sketches you might see on a chalkboard or whiteboard in a lecture (e.g. a ray diagram, several rows of hand-drawn circles that are slightly uneven non-uniform sketches, and other geometric sketches, such as triangles inside of semicircles). There are some nice abstract artistic illustrations at the start of each "part" of the book (and also the covers), though they are more for aesthetic decorations rather than for communicating mathematical concepts. For example, one of the illustrations is an abstract medieval-like artwork with a sun that has a human-like face, a starry sky, and a person in robes whose head is peeking through the starry sky to look at a world across the boundary. So, you won't lose out on comprehension at all by reading the ebook, but the book does have some minor artwork only tangentially related to the book's content, which might make a physical edition preferable for aesthetic/collector's purposes. The e-version is perfectly fine, though; as the prologue states, the book was first published as part of an online column on the Mathematical Association of America's website, so the e-version appears close to the original version. The prologue writer who helped publish the book also first received the essay as a 25-page printout from an audience member at a lecture.
  • hazbot 3y ago
    I read the first few chapters, then went off and just hacked on some math for the joy of it. It was incredibly freeing for me at least to hear the message of ‘think deeply about simple things’ with the realisation I don’t care like I used to that there are other people are smarter and faster than me. I recommend it.
• dang 3y ago
  Thanks! Macroexpanded: A Mathematicians Lament [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30829704 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30829704 - March 2022 (3 comments) A Mathematician's Lament [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15385104 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15385104 - Oct 2017 (1 comment) A Mathematician’s Lament (2002) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14331752 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14331752 - May 2017 (27 comments) A Mathematician’s Lament [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14016877 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14016877 - April 2017 (1 comment) A Mathematician’s Lament (2002) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8845507 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8845507 - Jan 2015 (89 comments) A Mathematician's Lament [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6994939 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6994939 - Jan 2014 (1 comment) A Mathematician’s Lament (2002) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6187014 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6187014 - Aug 2013 (119 comments) A Mathematician’s Lament - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=870885 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=870885 - Oct 2009 (1 comment) On Math Teaching: Lockhart's Lament - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=256176 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=256176 - July 2008 (21 comments) Lockhart's Lament: On Mathematics at School - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=130499 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=130499 - March 2008 (20 comments)