{"generated_at":"2026-11-12T18:49:18.103Z","source":{"name":"Hacker News public API","url":"https://github.com/HackerNews/API","attribution":"Stories and comments are public Hacker News submissions by their respective authors. HackerHub is an independent reader, not affiliated with Y Combinator.","content_is_untrusted":true},"story_id":50446246,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50446246","total_comments":59,"returned":17,"scope":"Up to the requested number of top-level comments in Hacker News ranked order. Deleted comments are omitted. Nested replies are not fetched; this is not the complete thread.","comments":[{"id":50447564,"author":"tveita","created_at":"2026-11-10T23:03:56.000Z","text":"I quite liked this interview:\nTerence Tao explains 6 essential mathematical concepts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOMx2BHHWtE","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":0,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50447564"},{"id":50448212,"author":"flowerlad","created_at":"2026-11-11T00:19:01.000Z","text":"The amazon preview [1] does not even show the contents page. How am I supposed to check if I might be interested in this book?\n[1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/0374621799?tag=macmillan-20","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":7,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50448212"},{"id":50447136,"author":"prideout","created_at":"2026-11-10T22:22:55.000Z","text":"I heard he was writing a book about the Cosmic Distance Ladder. I was looking forward to that, I hope this isn't what it evolved into.","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":2,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50447136"},{"id":50446368,"author":"pdhborges","created_at":"2026-11-10T21:12:07.000Z","text":"The book is quite basic. Don't expect to get much out of it if you have a STEM degree.","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":3,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50446368"},{"id":50449520,"author":"koolba","created_at":"2026-11-11T03:42:58.000Z","text":"What age range or skill level is this targeting?","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":1,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50449520"},{"id":50452531,"author":"wpmaven","created_at":"2026-11-11T12:14:36.000Z","text":"The link: https://www.quantabooks.org/books/six-math-essentials/","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":0,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50452531"},{"id":50465415,"author":"nickel0800","created_at":"2026-11-12T10:40:17.000Z","text":"Bought the book yesterday! Seems nice :)","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":0,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50465415"},{"id":50449556,"author":"stldev","created_at":"2026-11-11T03:48:44.000Z","text":"I pre-ordered some time ago, and received a copy this morning. I love it.\nIt's direct and well-written; a high-level overview of mathematics from numbers to analysis and dynamics. I think it's well organized, if brief at ~100pp.\nThis would be a great read for laypeople as well as a potential gap-filler for anyone in STEM.","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":1,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50449556"},{"id":50452103,"author":"bajard","created_at":"2026-11-11T11:21:05.000Z","text":"Probability is where I always get it wrong. Experiments and AI are my saviors.","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":0,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50452103"},{"id":50450877,"author":"htatche","created_at":"2026-11-11T08:09:03.000Z","text":"How does it compare to Basic Mathematics by Serge Lang?","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":1,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50450877"},{"id":50448457,"author":"jfr6fgjk","created_at":"2026-11-11T00:52:33.000Z","text":"Beats Math Essentials by Terrence Howard.","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":0,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50448457"},{"id":50455363,"author":"augment_me","created_at":"2026-11-11T16:36:11.000Z","text":"Why waste money on the book when you can just ask Claude about this?","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":0,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50455363"},{"id":50447889,"author":"slwvx","created_at":"2026-11-10T23:40:34.000Z","text":"The \"algebra excerpt\" [1] doesn't impress me at all. Sure, maybe equations intimidate some, but why not add some images or figures? Is that page really one of the six chapters, or is it 1/10 of a chapter?\nIs this a book for children?\n[1] https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/six-math-essentials-b...","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":1,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50447889"},{"id":50447666,"author":"antimora","created_at":"2026-11-10T23:15:43.000Z","text":"Received my copy today via Amazon.","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":1,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50447666"},{"id":50450108,"author":"mmooss","created_at":"2026-11-11T05:49:13.000Z","text":"Tao's essentials are, \"... numbers as the gateway to quantitative thinking; algebra as the gateway to abstraction; geometry as a way to calculate beyond what we can see; probability as a tool to navigate uncertainty with rigorous thinking; analysis as a means to tame the very large or the very small; and dynamics as the mathematics of change.\"*\nDoes Tao intend that as the 100,000 ft view of all mathematics, a way to categorize (almost) all of it, the roots of the mathematics tree? Are these the essentials or just some valuable ones.\nFor comparison, Gowers begins a much larger book with, \"there is a crude division that undoubtedly works well as a first approximation, namely the division of mathematics into algebra, geometry, and analysis.\" [0]\nThere must be other schemes out there? What are the respected ones?\n[0] Timothy Gowers, ed. The Princeton Companion to Mathematics. p.1 (2008)","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":2,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50450108"},{"id":50449797,"author":"bmitc","created_at":"2026-11-11T04:37:25.000Z","text":"I got this book today, as I had it on pre-order. It's a bit disappointing because, on a quick count, there are only five pages with pictures. And I think I saw just a few equations. It's a bit strange to leave out two essential mechanisms for how mathematicians work and think in a book named Six Math Essentials.","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":0,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50449797"},{"id":50446700,"author":"lbeckman314","created_at":"2026-11-10T21:40:52.000Z","text":"Previous Discussion (February 2026): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47113796\nTIL about Quanta Books, thanks OP — will be checking this out! :D","parent_id":50446246,"replies_count":0,"hn_url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50446700"}]}