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Math & theory (other): videos Hacker News recommends
Other mathematical and theoretical computer science topics: math education, mathematical modeling, miscellaneous lectures. Below: every video in this topic that at least three HN users linked with real commentary, in at least three different months (3 lectures, 2 talks, 1 course), best-scored first, with the comments on each video page.
- 6 HN recommenders 6 months 2014–2024I Insights into Mathematics · courseRecommended as an easy-to-follow math history course that gives perspective on the subject.
- 4 HN recommenders 4 months 2020–2023S Steve Brunton · lectureHN recommends the series as an approachable but rigorous way to learn control theory, with good production quality.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2011–2022HN recommends Boyd's lectures as a fantastic, often funny follow-up to linear algebra and as a step in machine learning study paths.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2012–2020Cited in HN discussions of math and CS education reform as an argument that school math is boring because it is taught wrong.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2020–2025HN links it to explain why people repeatedly get large-number arithmetic wrong in discussions of money and mental math.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2017–2023D dancefan · talkIt is the go-to primary source whenever HN discusses posits versus IEEE floats, valued for Kahan's sharp critique despite the poor audio.
- cited 3× 0 months 2012–2021T Travis Chambers · comedy videoHN mostly uses it as a cautionary example of missing basic conceptual understanding in debates about math education and hiring.
- cited 3× 0 months 2023–2025I IAS | PCMI Park City Mathematics Institute · lectureHN mostly cites it as a source or related clip in math and neural network discussions, not as a strong recommendation.
Questions
What is the most recommended math & theory (other) video on Hacker News?
Pythagoras' theorem (a) | Math History | NJ Wildberger by Insights into Mathematics: Recommended as an easy-to-follow math history course that gives perspective on the subject.
How is this math & theory (other) list ranked?
By HackerTube's score: the number of distinct months in which an HN comment recommended the video, plus half a point for every month with a strong recommendation. One viral thread counts less than steady recommendations over years.
Where do the videos come from?
From every Hacker News comment between 2007 and 2026 that linked a YouTube video, labeled by an AI model as a recommendation, a citation, a joke or a criticism. The list is published by HackerTube under ODC-By 1.0; this edition adds indexable pages and the comment context.
Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.