Ask HN: Are there books for mathematics like Feynman's lectures on physics? - <AUTHOR> I have started re-learning college level Physics and am thoroughly enjoying Feynman's Lecture on Physics. Are there similar books available for Mathematics (& Chemistry) - books that are fundamental and easy to read? <comment><USER2> "Mathematics : Its Content, Methods and Meaning" by A. D. Aleksandrov, A. N. Kolmogorov ,M. A. Lavrent'ev. (3 Volumes)

This is a classic and exactly what you are seeking for. I think it was originally published in 1962.

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/405880.Mathematics](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/405880.Mathematics)

[https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Content-Methods- Meaning-V...](https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Content-Methods-Meaning- Volumes/dp/0486409163)

<comment><USER3> There is some quality in Russian math books that western authors seem to lack.

<comment><USER4> Somebody from Russia/Former Soviet Countries from Eastern Europe ABSOLUTELY NEEDS to setup a publishing company (eg. Dover Publications) to bring all of their Science/Engineering books back into print. They will do very well in today's education market where the emphasis seems to have shifted to huge tomes/useless multiple editions/pretty colouring etc. rather than succinctly presenting the knowledge itself. The Mir (and other) publishers books were huge in many countries of the world and are remembered fondly to this day.

<comment><USER5> I absolutely agree about the quality of Russian math books. _" Bronshtein and Semendyayev"_ and _" Abramowitz and Stegun"_ come to my mind.

I doubt that a publishing company bringing back those titles into print would be very successful. One thing is that many of these titles are mostly of historical value. Who needs a book with mathematical tables nowadays? Many of the books are still available as used books too.

The most compelling argument though is that they are easily available on libgen (like this very post proves). So in a sense the publisher you wish for already exists, just not in a the form you probably thought of.

EDIT: Oops, I just learned that Milton Abramowitz and Irene Stegun are actually Americans.

<comment><USER4> I disagree with you on the publishing front. Mathematics is fundamental and timeless (what do you mean "many of these titles are mostly of historical value"?) They may need some trivial editing (though i would much prefer that they be published as they were with a note explaining the historical aspects) but otherwise they were information dense and succinct with an eye to Applications. They were all excellent across the board. They were directly responsible for educating a lot of poor people in many countries due to their very low cost and affordability. I would say this was one of the biggest successes of the Soviet ideology i.e. the education of the masses in Science & Technology fields. Current day Russians/Eastern Europeans/Central Asians can justifiably be very proud of this part of their History.

Much of "modern" textbooks are full of excessive verbiage obscuring the essentials, "pretty printing" disguised as "easy comprehension" and a racket for the publishers to make money. Why in the world do i need so many editions of books containing Mathematics which has not changed in centuries? Why do they cost an arm and a leg? Education is as fundamental as Health services and both should be affordable in service of the population.

So again, somebody setup a publishing company (eg. Dover Publications) and bring ALL the forgotten books from the Soviet era back into print :-)

<comment><USER5> > Mathematics is fundamental and timeless

Absolutely and you certainly have a point with what you wrote. May opinion is more along the lines of: _" the content is still as valuable as it ever was but the presentation is not."_

Take one of the examples I mentioned. _Abramowitz and Stegun_ is a collection of mathematical tables. If you needed to calculate the sine of a value, would you rip out your chuffed copy of _Abramowitz and Stegun_ or would you use your calculator? Even for the more obscure tables there is probably nothing in the book that isn't in _Mathematica_. If I really needed to look into the book for some reason I would be too lazy find my copy, given that online versions[1] as well as extended and improved versions[2] are just a few mouse clicks away.

Now, a book of mathematical tables is like an extreme example but I still feel the same sentiment for all my old math books. Why bother with a physical copy if I have a searchable online version right at my fingertips? When i comes to the books from the Soviet era I guess _libgen_ has them all and I think most people would not buy a physical copy anyway.

[1] [http://people.math.sfu.ca/~cbm/aands/intro.htm](http://people.math.sfu.ca/~cbm/aands/intro.htm)

[2] [https://dlmf.nist.gov/](https://dlmf.nist.gov/)

<comment><USER4> > but the presentation is not

You are very wrong here. It is the very presentation in those books viz; succinct and concise, no frills approach, high information density and with an eye to applications which makes them so valuable today. It is the best way of Science teaching distilled from the brains of a whole lot of smart people.

I am not sure why you are fixated on _one_ book of tables. It is irrelevant in the broader scheme of things. For example none of the Mir books that i have, have anything to do with pre-calculated tables other than a few appendices.

There are a huge swath of students across the world who do not have the same access to technology as we do. Printed books are still the norm amongst the majority of students in the world. Printed books will also outlast any Digital media presentation of books due to its simplicity and robustness i.e no problems like DRM, unreadable extinct formats, availability of good ereaders, health aspects, etc (there is a whole lot more i can elaborate here).

Finally, and most important, research is beginning to show that we retain/understand less when using ebooks/ereaders than when we read a printed book. This is very much true of technical books (borne out by my own experience) where you need concentrated attention with body and mind. For example, we intuitively jump back and forth across pages, use our fingers as book marks, subconsciously create spatial maps of what we are reading etc. all of which have no analogues with current day ereaders. Cognitive Science is still trying to figure out how best to use modern technology. So don't throw away your old Maths books just yet :-)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> When I was studying physics, I found Feynman's books in the library, read them all, and had the feeling I understand everything!

But then I tried to solve some final exams from previous years, and realized the feeling is false. These books gave me great intuition - but they made all the math look deceivingly simple, and as a result it is hard to develop the actual problem solving skills and intuition.

I know my experience is not unique - in fact, everyone I know who tried to learn exclusively from Feynman had the same experience.

<comment><USER7> Yeah, he was like that in person as well. When I was an undergraduate, he would "teach" a seminar on Tuesday afternoons called "PhysX" where you could go and ask any question you wanted. He'd go up to the blackboard and extemporaneously write things down and explain things in such a way that thought you really understood. But when you got back to your room and tried to replicate the chain of reasoning, there were always pieces missing or leaps that you now couldn't make. (It felt like the Star Trek Episode, "Spock's Brain".)

But we all took that as an indication of our own lack of knowledge and intuition and would just try harder.

<comment><USER8> I had a teacher in the University who took some courses taught by Feynman and had the same experience. He even tried to record some of the lectures, but the result was similar. While he was listening, he felt like everything was very clear. But as soon as he stopped the tape, nothing made sense anymore.

<comment><USER9> The funny thing is, if I remember his autobiographies correctly, he wouldn't let anyone else get away with that. I think he said that if he didn't understand something, he would always ask about it.

<comment><USER10> "That which I do not understand, I cannot create"

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> For mathematics, I would recommend:

1\. "What Is Mathematics? An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods" by Courant and Robbins -- a general book on mathematics in the spirit of Feynman lectures.

2\. Strogatz's "Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos" \-- it's a bit narrow in scope (mostly dynamical systems with a little bit of chaos/fractals thrown in) but very good nonetheless.

3\. Tristan Needham, "Visual Complex Analysis", beautiful introduction to complex analysis.

4\. Cornelius Lanczos, "The Variational Principles of Mechanics" \-- this is a physics book, but one of the classics in the subject, and as Gerald Sussman once remarked, you glean new insights each time you read it.

5\. Cornelius Lanczos, "Linear Differential Operators" \-- an excellent treatment of differential operators, Green's functions, and other things that one encounters in infinite-dimensional vector spaces. This book has some very intuitive explanations, e.g., why d/dx is not self-adjoint (i.e., Hermitian), whereas d^2/dx^2 is.

For chemistry, I would recommend "General Chemistry" by Linus Pauling, even though it's a bit outdated.

<comment><USER12> Just a note, "Visual Complex Analysis" is a terrible book to learn complex analysis. Proofs are very iffy, akin to sketches of proofs. With that said, it is a excellent supplement to another std. complex analysis textbook.

<comment><USER13> Is it just the normal difference between e.g. an engineer's approach to real analysis and a mathematicians (but complex analysis swapped in), or something else?

I can think of a lot of fields where a decent grasp of complex analysis concepts would be very helpful even without being able to do rigorous proofs.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> In terms of depth and breadth, the Princeton companions get close to Feynman.[1][2]

A more formal approach appears in handbooks.[3][4]

[1] Gowers et al., The Princeton Companion to Mathematics. [https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691118802/th...](https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691118802/the- princeton-companion-to-mathematics)

[2] Higham and Dennis, The Princeton Companion to Applied Mathematics. [https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691150390/th...](https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691150390/the- princeton-companion-to-applied-mathematics)

[3] Zwillinger, CRC Standard Mathematical Tables and Formulae. [https://www.crcpress.com/CRC-Standard-Mathematical-Tables- an...](https://www.crcpress.com/CRC-Standard-Mathematical-Tables-and- Formulas/Zwillinger/p/book/9781498777803)

[4] Bronshtein, Handbook of Mathematics. [https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783540721222](https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783540721222)

<comment><USER15> But is really breadth and depth what makes Feynman's approach to physics unique?

To me the unique aspect is more the uncompromising intuitionistic approach with little consideration/adaptation for "shallow/correlative thinkers"...

<comment><USER16> This. I think everyone in this topic is missing the point of what makes the Feynman Lectures unique.

<comment><USER17> I'd use 3 words to describe Feynman's style: clarity, accessibility, and fascination.

<comment><USER18> This description made me think of the "Mathologer" channel on YouTube.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Spivak's Calculus.

It's "just" calculus... but it's also everything else leading up to it.

It's a wonderful book, written in a very engaging style, and it shows you how mathematicians think and how they play. It shows you why we have proofs, why things go wrong, and all that had to happen before we came up with a definition of derivatives and integrals that we're happy with (and of course, all of the things we can do with our newfound definitions).

<comment><USER20> It's also a beautiful book.

<comment><USER21> Yeah, great layout and typesetting. I have a copy mostly for this reason.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> "Calculus Made Easy" by Silvanus P. Thompson (1910). It is availably freely online via the Gutenberg project and many other forms too. Chapter 1 is probably the best mathematics chapter I have ever read [0]. In two paragraphs, it beats most other calculus books.

[0] [http://calculusmadeeasy.org/1.html](http://calculusmadeeasy.org/1.html)

<comment><USER23> Came here to tell this. IIRC, a newer edition of the book by Martin Gardner was published in 1998 with some notable updates. I read the newer one when I was in high school and as with all other Martin Gardner books, this was an absolute gem to learn and understand calculus.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> Penrose's 'Road to Reality' [1] is a kind primer on where the math comes from, as it applies to physics. Kind of a philosophical walkthrough of how math applies to physics. It is nowhere near as concise as Feynman's lectures, but it does complement them pretty well, while getting more into the math, and why the math is needed to describe various aspects of physical reality.

[1] [https://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress/?p=154](https://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress/?p=154)

<comment><USER25> As it happens I bought both Road to Reality and Lectures on Physics at the same time, about 14 year ago. I read and re-read Lectures on Physics but I was never able to finish Road to Reality. I have kept my aging copy and hope to one day get through it, but it's a MUCH more difficult read, at least in my opinion.

<comment><USER26> It definitely is quite difficult, but it's also very inspiring in finding various topics to read more. I must have bought at least 20 books from the vast bibliography in the appendix of the book.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> Prelude to Mathematics by W.W. Sawyer was written to give students an overview of modern math concepts beyond algebra. Topics include non-euclidian geometry, linear algebra, projective geometry and group theory. Again, for someone with an understanding of algebra. I enjoyed it and think it's in the spirit of what you're looking for.

Edit: Introduction to Graph Theory by Trudeau is another that I really liked. Very little was applicable to graphs as programmers think of them. Pure math that is easy to grasp and enjoy.

<comment><USER28> I came to add add _Introduction to Graph Theory_ and found it here. I second it! A nice book and I appreciate it's funny introduction as a book designed for liberal arts majors injured by the pedagogy of institutional mathematics (paraphrasing).

If you have a grasp of algebra and sets this book is an easy read for the curious or mathematically immature.

 _Edit_ WhatIsDukkha is correct and their suggestion better reflects what I intended to say.

<comment><USER29> Innumerate is infrequently used but it's analogous to calling someone illiterate. Someone that can't do their sums.

Usually saying someone isn't "mathematically mature" ie able to read and use proofs is what you would want to say.

<comment><USER15> You can do a lot of graph theory without being able to sum integers. No problem. :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> Mathematics and Logic by Mark Kac and Stan Ulam (1992 Dover paperback, ISBN 978-0486670850) [1]

Mathematics, Form and Function by Saunders Mac Lane (1986 Springer-Verlag hardcover, ISBN 0-387-96217-4) [2]

[1]: [https://www.cut-the-knot.org/books/kac/index.shtml](https://www.cut-the- knot.org/books/kac/index.shtml)

[2]: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics,_Form_and_Function](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics,_Form_and_Function)

<comment><USER31> +1 on Mathematics, Form and Function

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> I am very much enjoying Evan Chen's "An Infinitely Large Napkin". [https://venhance.github.io/napkin/Napkin.pdf](https://venhance.github.io/napkin/Napkin.pdf)

I think this is in the spirit of Feynman's lectures inasmuch as it's not going to bring you to expert-level understanding, but it is going to do a good job giving you some intuitive understanding, which you might then be able to apply to re-studying the material in more detail.

He even takes pull requests, I fixed a few typos.

<comment> alok-g Looks very good. Thanks for the suggestion.

</comment></comment><comment><USER33> There are some really good suggestions here. I would like to add that learning calculus properly is of the utmost importance. It's no exaggeration when I say that this is unquestionably the single best, most profitable action you can take. Any one of these books can change your life.

1\. Spivak Calculus

2\. Apostol Calculus vol. I and II

3\. Courant and Johns, Introduction to Calculus and Analysis vol. I, IIA and IIB

For the more casual computer science or physics major, I'd go with choice 3 which resembles the Feynmann lectures the most. All the rigour of the other two is there but in a more digestible form. It's hard for someone not accustomed to hard maths to digest long proofs, it could give you a bad case of indigestion. It's more a function of patience. Courant and Johns get to the point much more quickly while Spivak and Apostol take their time to do everything thoroughly. Courant and Johns does do everything thoroughly but they are kinder to the reader and delay lengthy rigoourous proofs as long as possible while giving plenty of motivation and intuition.

Also I strongly recommend any books by Ray Smullyan particularly his introduction to mathematical logic. "A Beginner's Guide to Mathematical Logic"

</comment><comment><USER34> "Mathematics Can Be Fun" by Yakov Perelman

Not really a book that has lectures but it's a great book that covers all popular topics in Mathematics (fun to read).

(Link: [https://mirtitles.org/2015/12/07/mathematics-can-be-fun- yako...](https://mirtitles.org/2015/12/07/mathematics-can-be-fun-yakov- perelman))

<comment><USER4> ALL books by Yakov Perelman are a must read for every educated person. "Science popularization" at its finest! How i wish modern "authors" wrote books like these in their area of specializations.

Some of his Books;

* Physics for Entertainment Vols I & II

* Algebra for Fun

* Figures for Fun

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> I would recommend "The Number Devil" [1] for children (from 11 on) and adults alike.

It's a zany story, but in that respect it provides a refreshing intro into some math concepts.

In that vein, I also recommend "mathematical mindsets" [2]. A colleague developed a course inspired by this book. Though I only witnessed a tidbit, it radiated with the "new perspective/ new insights / gained understanding" that you'd get from the Feynman lectures.

Sidenote: neither is "now you know how all of maths work", but neither is Feynman thaf (foot physics). More importantly, all of them help you gain a new perspective on things.

[1] eg. [https://www.bol.com/nl/p/the-number-devil-a-mathematical- adv...](https://www.bol.com/nl/p/the-number-devil-a-mathematical- adventure/1001004000849661/)

[2] eg. [https://books.google.nl/books/about/Mathematical_Mindsets.ht...](https://books.google.nl/books/about/Mathematical_Mindsets.html?id=1_KlCgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y)

</comment><comment><USER36> Graham, Knuth, and Patashnik's _Concrete Mathematics_ has the same exploratory and informal tone that the Feynman lectures have. It's more about computational math than abstract math.

</comment><comment><USER37> If you're looking for a book that's both easy and stimulating to read, but that discusses a lot of mathematics in reasonable detail, I highly recommend the novelist David Foster Wallace's Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity.

It's probably the best book on mathematics I've read. It's not a textbook the way the Feynman lectures are, but it's stimulating and a good read. Other books mentioned like Visual Complex Analysis or Courant's book are dry and take a lot of effort to get through. Some of the older books mentioned may be great (I've found many older textbooks much clearer than more recent ones), but I personally haven't read them so I can't make a recommendation there.

You can also check YouTube videos/courses e.g. one I found great was MIT Professor Gilbert Strang's Linear Algebra course -- his videos are easy to follow, stimulating and clear.

<comment><USER38> +1 on DFW's book. It's odd, and really it's more a discussion on the history of modern mathematics than an in depth explanation of the concepts themselves, but it is a great read.

I wrote a short review after reading it, which you might be interested in checking out: [https://faingezicht.com/articles/2017/10/27/infinity/](https://faingezicht.com/articles/2017/10/27/infinity/)

<comment><USER39> OT: Interesting blog you've got there.

I've seen Donella Meadows' Thinking in Systems book recommended here a few times before, but your review really pulled the trigger for me, so thanks!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER40> All the books cited here by Arnold, Spivak, and Lanczos are extraordinarily good.

Nobody has mentioned yet "Geometry and the Imagination" by Hilbert and Cohn- Vossen. If there is a Feynman equivalent in math it is certainly this book.

For elementary geometry, the Feynman equivalent is probably "Introduction to Geometry", by H.S.M.Coxeter. Beautifully written, figures on every page, covers all geometric topics (affine, projective, ordered, differential, ...)

For differential geometry, nothing beats "A Panoramic view of Differential Geometry" by Berger. It is a stunning comprehensive overview of the whole field, focused on the meaning and the applications of each part and, strangely for a math book, with no formal proofs. Only the main ideas of the proof and the relationships between them are given, but this allows to fit the whole subject into a single, manageable whole.

</comment><comment><USER41> I'm currently reading "Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers by Jan Gullberg" with my 3 sons (16, 12 and 10), and by taking it slow (one minor number per day) with lots of work together its helping build things up for them from first principles.

I read it myself years ago and it was a great and entertaining way to fill in the gaps from my meager math education.

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/383087.Mathematics](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/383087.Mathematics)

</comment><comment><USER42> I know you asked for books, but I have to mention the videos of Grant Sanderson (3Blue1Brown) [1].

His explanations of mathematics are the only ones I can think of that have given me the same sort of piercing clarity and insight that one gets from reading Feynman on physics.

[1]: [https://www.youtube.com/c/3blue1brown](https://www.youtube.com/c/3blue1brown)

<comment><USER43> I guess he's pretty popular around here, but if anyone still hasn't seen the channel, please check it out. if I could, I'd vote for this guy to get a nobel prize. seriously. education is critical to our future, and efforts like set an example that I personally consider to be invaluable on the long run. what I mean is that it's easy to recommend videos of people like this, but since it's "just a youtuber", we often fail to reflect more deeply about what's —at least in my opinion— an amazing contribution to humanity.

</comment></comment><comment><USER44> I think that those who are down-voting people suggesting Rudin are missing the forest for the trees. The level is not as low as Feynman's lectures, but if you want a text that has the hallmarks of a true master at work, Rudin fits the bill. I personally always felt that what made Feynman's lectures what they are were, was that the man actually understood the subjects on such a deep level that his mind was able to hone in on those little simple thought experiments and ways of looking at things that gave you huge insight into what he was lecturing on. Rudin comes at analysis with the same level of understanding and that's why Real & Complex and Baby Rudin are still the gold standard for analysis texts. It is impossible to convey the sense of elegance that mathematicians speak about until you've seen it and been blown away by it. Rudin will do that and leave you speechless, he's the master. I can tell you that my first encounter with Real & Complex leaving me thinking that Rudin was on a fundamentally higher plane than any author I had read before, it was like watching a magician. If you're looking for a real Feynman in mathematics, IMHO Rudin is your man.

<comment><USER45> When I did analysis at university, I read Rudin instead of the recommended text. When the exam came around, I tried to generalise all the problems on the exam and gave answers which did not impress the person marking it, as they looked nothing like the standard solutions. As a result, I very nearly failed analysis. I wasn't particularly upset, as I used to consider my exam grade as a reflection of how well the course was taught, rather than a grading of my own comprehension. This is not a level of arrogance I would recommend to students looking to pass their exams.

</comment></comment><comment><USER46> Reposting a comment I wrote a while ago, and may be appealing given you're learning physics:

>This isn't a popular suggestion (and by that I don't mean to say it's rejected or people don't like it, I just haven't heard it suggested before in this context) but at university for electronic engineering we used K.A. Stroud's Engineering Mathematics. This book is surprisingly little focused on actual applications to engineering, it takes you through calculus by introducing the derivative, for example, and then some linear algebra stuff. But what surprises people is that it starts off with the properties of addition and multiplication - it's that simple. It's a book that starts from zero and takes you very, very far. It won't take you to a mathematician's 100 but it'll take you to any serious engineering undergrad's 100.

</comment><comment><USER47> It's not wide-ranging but Terence Tao's _Solving Mathematical Problems_ ([https://books.google.com/books/about/Solving_Mathematical_Pr...](https://books.google.com/books/about/Solving_Mathematical_Problems_A_Personal.html?id=ZBTJWhXD05MC)) makes you understand mathematical thinking better than any other book I have seen at that level.

</comment><comment><USER48> This may be a bit too elementary, but I recently read "Arithmatic" by Paul Lockwood and found it easy, provocative, and fascinating.

[https://www.amazon.com/Arithmetic-Paul- Lockhart/dp/067497223...](https://www.amazon.com/Arithmetic-Paul- Lockhart/dp/0674972236)

<comment><USER49> Did you mean Paul Lockhart? His book, "Measurement" is also good. 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.

<comment><USER48> Yes, Lockhart! This is why you shouldn't post with jet lag.

He uses a similar approach in "Arithmatic". He begins the book by describing different base number systems used throughout human history (the way different civilizations did "counting"). He does that in order to argue that a number itself shouldn't be confused with its representation.

I might check out "Measurement" next! Thanks for the recommendation.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER50> My recommendation below is not the equivalent of a Feynman's series for math, but one that is pegged much lower, for someone interested in basic remedial math.

It is called "Who is Fourier: A Mathematical Adventure".

I was tremendously surprised by this unusual gem of a book. It covers the range from basic arithmetic to logarithms, trigonometry, calculus to fourier series.

[https://www.amazon.com/Who-Fourier-Mathematical- Adventure-2n...](https://www.amazon.com/Who-Fourier-Mathematical- Adventure-2nd/dp/0964350432)

<comment><USER51> And it's only $975!

<comment><USER4> Oh No! That is an unfortunate link from Amazon where somebody is trying to hustle money. You don't need the 2nd edition since there is no change from the 1st which you can get for $10+ from many sites.

The book is quite good. It is written like a "Manga" book and hence has tons of drawings to help develop intuition for the concepts. It is written by a group of ordinary people with help from Scientists (a quirky club named Transnational College of Lex from Japan - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippo_Family_Club](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippo_Family_Club) ) and thus is very accessible. Highly recommended for High school students and above.

Note that the same group has also published two other books in the same vein; a) What is Quantum Mechanics b) What is DNA; both of which are also highly recommended.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER52> Mary Boas wrote one of my fav books targeting folks in the physical sciences: [https://www.amazon.com/Mathematical-Methods-Physical- Science...](https://www.amazon.com/Mathematical-Methods-Physical-Sciences- Mary/dp/0471198269)

<comment><USER53> Stroud's "Engineering Mathematics" is better for my money.

</comment></comment><comment><USER54> More general purpose problem solving but written by a mathematician and one of the best books I've ever read! [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_It](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_It)

<comment><USER33> Agreed. Hard for some people to appreciate but so true.

</comment></comment><comment><USER55> If you're looking for something very basic (high school and calculus), you can check my book No Bullshit Guide to Math & Physics: [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0992001005/](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0992001005/) Extended preview here: [https://minireference.com/static/excerpts/noBSguide_v5_previ...](https://minireference.com/static/excerpts/noBSguide_v5_preview.pdf)

There is also the No Bullshit Guide to Linear Algebra [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0992001021/](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0992001021/) Extended preview: [https://minireference.com/static/excerpts/noBSguide2LA_previ...](https://minireference.com/static/excerpts/noBSguide2LA_preview.pdf)

Both come with a review of high school math topics, which may or may not be useful for you, depending on how well you remember the material. Many of the university-level books will assume you know the high school math concepts super well.

One last thing, I highly recommend you try out SymPy which is a computer algebra system that can do a lot of arithmetic and symbolic math operations for you, e.g. simplify expressions, factor polynomials, solve equations, etc. You can try it out without installing anything here [https://live.sympy.org/](https://live.sympy.org/) and this is a short tutorial that explains the basic commands [https://minireference.com/static/tutorials/sympy_tutorial.pd...](https://minireference.com/static/tutorials/sympy_tutorial.pdf)

</comment><comment><USER56> The Best of All Possible Worlds: Mathematics and Destiny by Ivar Ekeland, [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/407320.The_Best_of_All_P...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/407320.The_Best_of_All_Possible_Worlds) It is definitely not like Feynman's Lectures still one of the best books I've ever read.

<comment><USER4> For some reason, Ivar Ekeland's books are not that well known. I myself came across his book _Mathematics and the Unexpected_ by random chance while browsing the Maths Section in the Library. I was hooked and set about getting/reading all three of his "popular maths" books; a) Mathematics and the unexpected b) The broken dice, and other mathematical tales of chance c) The best of all possible worlds: Mathematics and destiny.

</comment></comment><comment><USER45> It's extremely difficult to write a mathematics textbook in the intuitive style. There are some reasons for this.

Firstly, much of mathematics is symbolic and any description of equations in an intuitive style is unnecessarily verbose if it abandons the symbolic approach, essentially taking one back to descriptions like those used in ancient Greece before the invention of algebra, e.g. "and the third part of the first is to the second part of the first as the fourth part of the area is to the square on the gnomon".

The second reason is that an intuitive style supposes that one can answer natural questions that might arise, in an order that they are likely to arise in the mind of the student. Often the natural questions are much more difficult to answer mathematically, or the answers are not known.

The third reason is that concepts have arisen historically for non-obvious reasons, or reasons only known to experts with far more knowledge than the reader is expected to have, or the originator of the ideas did their best to obscure their motivation. This makes it extremely hard to motivate certain concepts naturally (intuitively) since such motivations are simply not known. For example, it is not hard to motivate solvable groups through a study of solubility of polynomial equations. But it is much harder to motivate the related concept of nilpotent groups, where the true motivations lie far deeper in the theory than the concepts themselves.

The fourth reason is that it is a massive effort to come up with good examples. Even the best textbook authors often struggle to come up with accessible examples for the concept they are trying to explain. Often, good examples require a really broad knowledge of mathematics that goes way beyond the narrow field being taught. Examples end up being very artificial, and neither intuitive nor typical, as a result.

Don't get me wrong. If someone told me something like the Feynman lectures existed for mathematics, I would salivate and spend a lot of money to acquire them. But having experimented with many styles of writing notes for myself on mathematics over the years, I well appreciate how hard, or perhaps impossible the task would really be. Of course there are some oases in mathematics where such an intuitive approach is possible.

</comment><comment><USER57> The Princeton Companions to Mathematics and Applied Mathematics are beautiful to leaf through at the library. They're also hardcore heavy-weight (physically) and unlikely to be read twice, so don't buy them.

My personal take is that good linear algebra books at any level are great "tours of mathematics". Start with Strang and never stop. In a few years you'll be balled up with Kreyszig scribbling proof attempts in receipts, flaming unkempt hair and everyone around you will think you're weird but you'll be so, so happy.

</comment><comment><USER58> Hamming, R.W., _Numerical Methods For Scientists and Engineers_ [0] [1]

[0] [https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0486652416/](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0486652416/)

[1] [http://alvand.basu.ac.ir/~dezfoulian/files/Numericals/Numeri...](http://alvand.basu.ac.ir/~dezfoulian/files/Numericals/Numerical.Methods.For.Scientists.And.Engineers_2ed_Hamming_0486652416.pdf)

</comment><comment><USER59> More of a general dive into tons of different topics can be found in: "What Is Mathematics? An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods" by Richard Courant & Herbert Robbins

</comment><comment><USER60> Feynman was a unique teacher of course, and pure math isn't quite as easy to teach intuitively.

Something that might be close would be the survey _Mathematics: Its Contents, Methods and Meaning_ by Aleksandrov, Kolmogorov et al. [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/405880.Mathematics](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/405880.Mathematics)

</comment><comment><USER61> Feynman's PhD advisor, John Wheeler, together with Charles Misner and Kip Thorns, wrote a textbook on general relativity called Gravitation. It's gigantic, 1200 pages, and its tone is similar to the Feynman lectures. And it is at least partially a math textbook, as it includes a fairly complete introduction to Riemannian geometry.

<comment><USER62> I think even among professionals in general relativity, MTW has developed a reputation as being too dense and old-fashioned, certainly so for a beginner. If you're first approaching GR, Sean Carroll's notes or books are much more approachable.

<comment><USER61> True, but the question was about books that are like the Feynman Lectures. MTW has similar tone and breadth, and a similar reputation for being useless for learning.

For actually learning GR, I prefer Wald.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER63> I recommend "What Is Mathematics? An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods" by Courant and Robbins. It's a classic.

</comment><comment><USER64> I liked Steven Strogatz's books Sync and Infinite Powers.

<comment><USER65> Seconded, and so is his Nonlinear dynamics and Chaos

</comment></comment><comment><USER66> For chemistry, check out "General Chemistry" by Linus Pauling. Pauling had the same passion for chemistry that Feynman had for physics. He wrote General Chemistry with that passion, and it shows. It's a really engaging introduction to chemistry. (Replete with exercises).

</comment><comment><USER67> All of Statistics: A Concise Course in Statistical Inference [https://www.amazon.com/All-Statistics-Statistical- Inference-...](https://www.amazon.com/All-Statistics-Statistical-Inference- Springer/dp/1441923225)

</comment><comment><USER68> I enjoyed "A tour of the calculus," at least the half I read.

[https://www.amazon.com/Tour-Calculus-David- Berlinski/dp/0679...](https://www.amazon.com/Tour-Calculus-David- Berlinski/dp/0679747885/ref=asc_df_0679747885/?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid={creative}&hvpos={adposition}&hvnetw=o&hvrand={random}&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl={devicemodel}&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583795260672248&psc=1)

</comment><comment><USER69> I believe mathematics as a field is really suffering because there is not much in the way of "Feynman"-style books. But people like John Baez and John Conway have countered this trend somewhat. You should definitely try reading anything by these two. Conway does tend to be a bit too brief at times.

And there's this book: "Conceptual mathematics" by Lawvere and Schanuel. It's unlike any other mathematics text I have found. Fundamental and easy to read: yes. Also leads up to some deep ideas in an intuitive way.

</comment><comment><USER70> Mathematics is typically approached in a different way than physics. But there are some books that offer a similar perspective to what Feynman tried to achieve, IMHO. I would recommend to look at works by John Stillwell, for example 'Elements of mathematics' or 'Mathematics and its history'.

Nathan Carter's 'Visual group theory' also seems an interesting experiment, if you are interested in that part of mathematics, though I have not read it.

</comment><comment><USER71> I am also been interested for the longest time - even with a degree in Mechanical Engineering - to understand mathematic like Calculus or the equations you see in neural networks papers.

My longest problem has been I have no idea what is going in the formula or fundamental questions like, "why is there a square root there". It is hard to describe my issue, but I've been very horrible with math anyways. Can't do gas station math anyways.

<comment><USER4> Try, Try again until you "get" it. Seriously, Maths should be read by everybody in the spirit of playing a game i.e. with no pressure and in a relaxed frame of mind. There are Concepts, Objects and various Rules interconnecting them. And somehow these "games" turn out to be useful in explaining the real world.

Get some school/college textbooks (high school level onwards) and some "popular maths" books and start reading. Once something catches your fancy you can dive deep as needed. You are studying to gain "understanding" and not to get through an exam or prove something to somebody.

</comment></comment><comment><USER72> Here's a question about the Feynman Lectures. I remember looking at the digitized text a few years ago, perhaps right after they made the digital copy freely available, and thinking the typesetting was pretty great. Looking at it today:

[http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/I_toc.html](http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/I_toc.html)

It is... very average looking. Did something happen here?

</comment><comment><USER73> By the end of this book reaches college levels. There's nothing better to show how interesting mathematics, to look at it with wonderment. Our education system is to blame.

[https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Infinity-Mathematical- Explora...](https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Infinity-Mathematical-Explorations- Excursions/dp/0486232654)

</comment><comment><USER74> The closest I'm aware of is What Is Mathematics? by Courant, Robbins, and Stewart -- starts off developing the natural numbers, goes onto number theory, analysis, complex numbers, set theory, projective geometry, non-euclidean geometry, topology, calculus, optimization, and some chapters on recent developments (as of its republishing in 1996, book was originally published in 1941).

A lesser known one that isn't quite as comprehensive is a little Dover tome by Mendelson: Number Systems and the Foundations of Analysis. It starts off with the (abstract) natural numbers, and from there develops (parts of) real and complex analysis, using a categorical point of view throughout.

One of my favorite parts in the latter:

"What is our intuitive understanding of the natural numbers? Surely this being the firmest of all our mathematical ideas, should have a definite, transparent meaning. Let us examine a few attempts to make this meaning clear:

(1) The natural numbers may be thought of as symbolic expressions: 1 is |, 2 is ||, 3 is |||, 4 is ||||, etc. Thus, we start with a vertical stroke | and obtain new expressions by appending additional vertical strokes. There are some obvious objections with this approach. First, we cannot be talking about particular physical marks on paper, since a vertical stroke for the number 1 may be repeated in different physical locations. The number 1 cannot be a class of all congruent strokes, since the length of the stroke may vary; we would even acknowledge as a 1 a somewhat wiggly stroke written by a very nervous person. Even if we should succeed in giving a sufficiently general geometric characterization of the curves which would be recognized as 1's, there is still another objection. Different people and different civilizations may use different symbols for the basic unit, for example, a circle or a square instead of a stroke. Yet, we could not give priority to one symbolism over any of the others. Nevertheless, in all cases, we would have to admit that, regardless of the difference in symbols, we are all talking about the same things.

(2) The natural numbers may be conceived to be set-theoretic objects. In one very appealing version of this approach, the number 1 is defined as the set of all singletons {x}; the number 2 is the set of all unordered pairs {x, y}, where x =/= y; the number 3 is the set of all sets {x, y, z} where x =/= y, x =/= z, y =/= z; and so on. Within a suitable axiomatic presentation of set theory, clear rigorous definitions can be given along these lines for the general notion of natural number and for familiar operations and relations involving natural numbers. Indeed, the axioms for a Peano system are easy consequences of the definitions and simple theorems of set theory. Nevertheless, there are strong deficiencies in this approach as well.

First, there are many competing forms of axiomatic set theory. In some of them, the approach sketched above cannot be carried through, and a completely different definition is necessary. For example, one can define the natural numbers as follows: 1 = {∅}, 2 = {∅, 1}, 3 = {∅, 1, 2}, etc. Alternatively, one could use: 1 = {∅}, 2 = {1}, 3 = {2}, etc. Thus, even in set theory, there is no single way to handle the natural numbers. However, even if a set- theoretic definition is agreed upon,it can be argued that the clear mathematical idea of the natural numbers should not be defined in set- theoretic terms. The paradoxes (that is, arguments leading to a contradiction) arising in set theory have cast doubt upon the clarity and meaningfulness of the general notions of set theory. It would be inadvisable then to define our basic mathematical concepts in terms of set theoretic ideas.

This discussion leads us to the conjecture that the natural numbers are not particular mathematical objects. Different people, different languages, and different set theories may have different systems of natural numbers. However, they all satisfy the axioms for Peano systems and therefore are isomorphic. There is no one system which has priority in any sense over all the others. For Peano systems, as for all mathematical systems, it is the form (or structure) which is important, not the "content". Since the natural numbers are necessary in the further development of mathematics, we shall make one simple assumption:Basic Axiom There exists a Peano system."

Elliott Mendelson, Number Systems and the Foundations of Analysis

<comment><USER50> This was a good read, thank you.

</comment></comment><comment><USER75> "Number Theory and its History" (1948) by Øystein Ore is considered a classic.

[https://www.amazon.com/Number-Theory-History-Dover- Mathemati...](https://www.amazon.com/Number-Theory-History-Dover- Mathematics/dp/0486656209/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=)

</comment><comment><USER76> To paraphrase my supervisor "Mathematicians don't read, we write."

Not to be taken literally, of course. But there is some truth in that. If you are an engineer it makes sense to skim all kinds of math books. If you are a mathematician then I would say rather look for something that gels well with your personality and run with it.

</comment><comment><USER77> I asked this on stackoverflow: [https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/62190/mathematical-...](https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/62190/mathematical- equivalent-of-feynmans-lectures-on-physics)

</comment><comment><USER78> I suggest this "Map of mathematics" as a starting point that gives you a reasonable birds-eye view of the field. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmJ-4B-mS-Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmJ-4B-mS-Y)

</comment><comment><USER79> "Number: The Language of Science: A Critical Survey Written for the Cultured Non-Mathematician" really opened the field up to me and did away with some of the misconceptions I had incurred in school.

I'm currently learning group theory, matrices, and graph theory.

</comment><comment><USER80> There is a second problem too - many really good books available only as hardcover volumes. So if you have a Kindle/iPad/whatever and want to save the trees and your own precious living place, you have to limit the reading to PDF and ePub.

</comment><comment><USER81> Calculus And Analytic Geometry by Ross L. Finney and George B. Thomas is a good introduction to basic calculus. I understand you want something covering everything in math. Courant is the best one and others have written about it a lot.

</comment><comment><USER82> I bought Prelude to Mathematics when I was 12, it was the first maths book I bought. That was a very long time ago! I thought it was very good, I don't know of another book quite like it. He produced some other good books as well.

</comment><comment><USER83> I've always liked "Mathematics for the Million" by Lancolet Hogben.

<comment><USER84> Yes that's a very good one. So many editions - with Einstein raving about its skill in bringing Math to the masses in a preface. Now it's almost unknown.

</comment></comment><comment><USER85> Anything by Metin Bektas. [https://www.amazon.com/s?i=digital- text&rh=p_27%3AMetin+Bekt...](https://www.amazon.com/s?i=digital- text&rh=p_27%3AMetin+Bektas)

</comment><comment><USER86> Mathematics for the Nonmathematician [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486248232](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486248232)

</comment><comment><USER87> Are there any equivalent of these books for kids? something 9-10 year olds can read and get interested in Math (or not afraid of it).

<comment><USER88> Wildberger has lectures on math for k-6 [https://m.youtube.com/user/njwildberger/playlists](https://m.youtube.com/user/njwildberger/playlists)

Goes well with the Art of Problem Solving site/books for practice.

</comment></comment><comment><USER89> "Mathematical Omnibus: Thirty Lectures on Classic Mathematics " Very accessible and covering a broad range of topics.

</comment><comment><USER9> I greatly enjoyed Spivak's _Calculus_.

</comment><comment><USER90> Mathematics, form and function. Saunders Mclane

</comment><comment><USER91> Calculus by Michael Spivak

<comment><USER92> seconded. this book is fantastic!

</comment></comment><comment><USER93> _How to Bake Pi_ by Eugenia Cheng

</comment><comment><USER4> In addition to all the other good suggestions, the following are recommended (have not seen these mentioned so far);

\- _Concepts of Modern Mathematics_ \- [https://www.amazon.com/Concepts- Modern-Mathematics-Dover-Boo...](https://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Modern- Mathematics-Dover- Books/dp/0486284247/ref=sr_1_1?crid=214QSPLG829VY&keywords=concepts+of+modern+mathematics&qid=1571974129&s=books&sprefix=concepts+of+modern+ma%2Cstripbooks- intl-ship%2C1448&sr=1-1)

\- _Methods of Mathematics Applied to Calculus, Probability, and Statistics_ \- [https://www.amazon.com/Methods-Mathematics-Calculus- Probabil...](https://www.amazon.com/Methods-Mathematics-Calculus-Probability- Statistics/dp/0486439453/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8) (all books by Richard Hamming are recommended)

\- _Calculus: An Intuitive and Physical Approach_ \- [https://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Intuitive-Physical- Approach-...](https://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Intuitive-Physical-Approach- Mathematics/dp/0486404536/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8)

For a Textbook reference, the following are quite good;

\- _Mathematical Techniques: An Introduction for the Engineering, Physical, and Mathematical Sciences_ \- [https://www.amazon.com/Mathematical-Techniques- Introduction-...](https://www.amazon.com/Mathematical-Techniques-Introduction- Engineering-Physical/dp/0199282013/ref=dp_ob_title_bk) (easy to read and succinct)

\- _Mathematics for Physicists: Introductory Concepts and Methods_ \- [https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Physicists- Introductory-C...](https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Physicists-Introductory- Concepts-Methods- ebook/dp/B07N48G4KD/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=mathematics+for+physicists&qid=1571974732&s=books&sr=1-1)

For General reading (all these authors other books are also worth checking out);

\- _Mathematics, Queen and Servant of Science_ \- [https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Queen-Servant-Science- Tem...](https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Queen-Servant-Science- Tempus/dp/155615173X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=mathematics+queen+and+servant&qid=1571977505&s=books&sr=1-1)

\- _Mathematics and the Physical World_ \- [https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Physical-World-Dover- Book...](https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Physical-World-Dover- Books/dp/0486241041/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=mathematics+and+the+physical+world&qid=1571977524&s=books&sr=1-1)

\- _Mathematician 's Delight_ \- [https://www.amazon.com/Mathematicians- Delight-Dover-Books-Ma...](https://www.amazon.com/Mathematicians-Delight- Dover-Books- Mathematics/dp/0486462404/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=mathematician%27s+delight&qid=1571977538&s=books&sr=1-1)

</comment><comment><USER94> Real and Complex Analysis by Walter Rudin.

</comment><comment><USER95> Rudin

<comment><USER96> Rudin (and baby Rudin) don't really fit the request here, a Feynman-like approach.

</comment></comment><comment><USER97> Not as encompassing as Feynman's lectures on physics, but Euclid's Elements is an excellent mathematical text.

<comment><USER33> Always. Robin Hartshorne's "Geometry: Euclid and Beyond" is the best book of its kind. It does Euclidean geometry with Hilbert's axioms and cleans up some of the loose ends of Euclid's classical treatment. Hartshorns book also covered the 5th postulate very thoroughly and non-Euclidean geometry. Hyperbolic geometry is treated axiomatically. He also has a nice treatment of axiomatic projective geometry which you can download for free. [http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.475...](http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.475.3070&rep=rep1&type=pdf)</comment></comment>


Climate Change First Became News 30 Years Ago. Why Haven't We Fixed It? - <AUTHOR> https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/07/embark-essay-climate-change-pollution-revkin/?beta=true <comment><USER2> It'll never be fixed so long as the primary talking heads advocating change are all giant energy consumers.

Who wants to listen to Leonardo DiCaprio, Al Gore, etc. as they jet from continent to continent, play on mega yachts, own 10,000 square foot homes-- then the listeners are supposed to live like monks?

No, that won't work. When they get real, concerned voices speaking-- people who put skin in the game-- then the idea might get traction.

<comment><USER3> >Who wants to listen to Leonardo DiCaprio, Al Gore, etc. as they jet from continent to continent, play on mega yachts, own 10,000 square foot homes-- then the listeners are supposed to live like monks?

Because they pay them? This is how carbon trading is supposed to work on a larger scale. How much money do you need to replace your a.c. or heating with a greener version/to retrofit your home? Why shouldn't Dicaprico pay for your solar panels? People like him could easily afford to offset their emissions, but they are not putting their money where there mouth is, are they?

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Because no one is making a profit from fixing it.

<comment><USER4> It's possible to make a lot of money trading carbon credits, just like you can trading anything else (Al Gore does this). There are also a lot of subsidies for green technology (which corporations can make money from) and in some countries a lot of climate taxes (which governments make money from.) There's just more money to be made in the entire rest of the economy (which is carbon- producing) than there is in building solar panels and shutting down factories.

<comment><USER5> Ahh ... to be 15 again, and believe that someone like Al Gore actually _trades_ , which would imply a mostly-fair exchange of things of actual value. That such a man actually cares for anything other than his own aggrandizement and money.

I miss that. Don't ever take a consulting gig at the EU headquarters. It may pay ... decent. I wouldn't say particularly well paid, but decent. It will also kill any remote ounce of hope you may harbor for politicians improving matters.

Here you find an indication of who the man really is[1]. Some tidbits:

      (high school) He was the captain of the football team, threw discus for the track and field team, and participated in basketball, art, and government.

      Was 25th in his class but got immediately accepted into harvard ...

      Gore was an avid reader who fell in love with scientific and mathematical theories,[19] but he did not do well in science classes and avoided taking math.[18] During his first two years, his grades placed him in the lower one-fifth of his class. During his sophomore year, he reportedly spent much of his time watching television, shooting pool, and occasionally smoking marijuana

      Gore earned an A on his thesis, "The Impact of Television on the Conduct of the Presidency, 1947–1969", and graduated with an A.B. cum laude in June 1969

Truly a man of science he is ... and his life mostly a great example of exactly how fair government is in the US (and sadly, I would agree that the life story of president Macron illustrates that the US is in fact pretty fair, or at least that it can be a lot worse than the above)

[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore#Early_life_and_educati...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore#Early_life_and_education)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Perhaps it's either not worth fixing at all or not worth fixing _yet_. So far as I know, nobody has proposed a way to "fix it" that passes cost-benefit analysis with a decent discount rate.

If we keep thinking about it, perhaps somebody will come up with better options in the future, but they simply haven't done so yet.

<comment><USER3> This depends on how you define cost and benefit. Remember the cost of doing nothing is

Rising waters (more flood defences or flood insurance going up) What is the cost when bayfromt SV property is flooded and cant be pumped out? What is the financial value of a species disappearing? What is the value of the oceans and the coral reefs that are being bleached by acid?

Compare that to the cost of switching to renewables lifestyle that can at least be quantified. Options are likely to get more and more expensive (it would have been cheaper 50 years ago than now even with our better tech) it's simply a matter of people putting enough money in to a) clean energy (because the more cheap clean energy we have the more viable other options like carbon capture becomes) and b) simply funding mitigating technologies.

It is quite possibly too late, we may have irreversibly damaged the climate to the point, where even a 100% switch off of co2 tomorrow would simply be too little, too late. Govs didn't introduce punishing taxes and subsidies for the right tech when they knew there was a problem (who votes for raising taxes?) So that's it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Because there is a market for a dead humanity</comment>


File manager nnn v2.5 released with many plugins, mouse support, sshfs and more - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/jarun/nnn/releases/tag/v2.5 <comment><AUTHOR> `nnn` is a lean and fast file manager, disk usage analyzer, fuzzy app launcher and batch file renamer.

Homepage: [https://github.com/jarun/nnn](https://github.com/jarun/nnn)

### New in v2.5

      - [plugin](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/tree/master/plugins) support. 19 plugins added. Some are:
        - pdfview: view a PDF in pager
        - nmount: (un)mount a storage device
        - ndiff: file and directory diff for selection
        - hexview: view a file in hex
        - imgresize: batch resize images to desktop resolution
        - ipinfo: check your IP address and whois information
        - transfer: upload a file to transfer.in
        - pastebin: paste the contents of a text file to paste.ubuntu.com
        - boom: play random music from a directory
        - nwal: set an image as wallpaper using nitrogen
        - pywal: set selected image as wallpaper, change terminal color scheme
        - getplugs: update plugins
      - SSHFS support
      - support `bsdtar`, simplify `patool` integration
      - native batch rename support (`vidir` dependency dropped)
      - mouse support
      - new location for config files - `~/.config/nnn`
        - plugin dir location: `~/.config/nnn/plugins`
        - selection file `.nnncp` is now `~/.config/nnn/.selection`
      - support [configuration](https://github.com/jarun/nnn/wiki/nnn-as-default-file-manager) as the default file manager
      - per-context detail/light mode
      - case-insensitive version compare
      - shortcut to visit `/` - <kbd>`</kbd> (backtick)
      - vim-like scrolloff support
      - `^D` & `^U`: scroll half page, `PgDn` & `PdUp`: scroll full page
      - fix selection across contexts
      - recognize `Home` and `End` keys at prompt for editing
      - fix broken program option `-b`
      - POSIX-compliant user-scripts (wherever possible)
      - `NNN_SCRIPT` is retired (replaced by plugins)</comment>


Codecasting - <AUTHOR>

I am planning to create a codecasting platform. Wonder is there already one? If not, what are the features we look forward having ? <comment><USER2> Livecoding.TV was in the latest YC batch: [http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/29/yc-backed-livecoding-tv- is-...](http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/29/yc-backed-livecoding-tv-is-the- twitch-tv-for-coding/)

However, just using normal YouTube Live Streaming is probably the most sane bet for coding.

</comment><comment><USER3> livecoding & twich</comment>


Stop Panicking: H-1B Visa Reform May Keep More Bright Foreign Minds in the U.S - <AUTHOR> http://www.forbes.com/sites/xiangwang/2017/02/04/stop-panicking-h-1b-visa-reform-may-keep-more-bright-foreign-minds-in-the-u-s/#40acbc0f366b <comment><USER2> I wasn't aware of a panic response regarding H-1B visa reform from anyone than perhaps the large companies that exploit them.

</comment><comment><USER3> Article doesn't actually make the case described in the title. I'd recommend ignoring.

</comment><comment><USER4> Too bad the uncertainty of having a deranged president shooting down visas at random really makes the prospect of relocating to the US undesirable.</comment>


Ask HN: I think I was just scammed for my card/bank details. What should I do? - <AUTHOR> Craziest card fraud experience ever.
My citibank debit card was declined for a mailchimp payment which most probably was because I was using it in Denmark on vacation for some transaction so they put a temp hold. No biggie. I call the number (i think) to their support but accidentally do 8007880022 instead of 8007880002. Furthermore i call the 0002 is a TTY so not even the actual number I was supposed to call even if I had done it correctly.
Anyway I get put through to a guy who claims to be for citibank and ask me to first confirm all my information. When I am done with that he asks me to confirm for their voice recognition system both with address, name, email etc and spelling it out too. I am annoyed but I am no suspiccious at all.
Then he gives me a confirmation code and phone number which he claims I should call 800 373 3411.
I do that but end up with some love hotline or something and when I call back that other number (the 0022) it's a different company suddenly.
Now I am confused and I call up citibank and tries to explain this too them. First they claim the number exist and that its fine, then she says its not correct but lifts the ban without actually cancelling the card.
I then have to call fraud department who still don't seem to understand what just happened and don't seem to care that this elaborate things is going on.
I insist that they cancel my card but realize that someone how have my voice spelling out address and say OK and other things (he was very specific that the system needed OK not just Sure)
I fell pretty stupid right now that I didn't recognize this but even more confused about what went wrong and what they can misuse that for and most importantly what to do about it. <comment><USER2> Don't beat yourself up over this. When we get busy and distracted we all make simple mistakes that can be very much a pain or costly.

A couple of things I think you should do, put a fraud alert on your credit file with the credit agencies, or get something like lifelock if you don't already have it. That will alert you if anyone tries to open new accounts using your credit profile. Also make sure you watch all your credit cards and financial statements for the next 3-6 months pretty closely, raise any issues fast don't wait. You might also want to change all the passcodes/passwords/pins you use on them for just that extra little level of security.

We all make mistakes, it sucks, it is embarrassing sometimes, but you aren't alone.

</comment><comment><USER3> Using someone else's card is a pretty stupid crime, most of the time it won't even work if you try to do so from another country. A less stupid crime is using some else's identity. A scammer is probably more inclined to use your information to open other accounts. They don't want your money, they want your credit.

Talk to your bank about freezing your credit (the credit agencies do this but a bank should help) and they will probably tell you to wait until there is fraudulent activity. With the inadequacy of digital privacy, nearly everyone's identity has been compromised and we will all have it stolen at some point, just know what to do when that day comes.

</comment><comment><USER4> patio11 wrote this amazing piece that might help: [https://www.kalzumeus.com/2017/09/09/identity-theft- credit-r...](https://www.kalzumeus.com/2017/09/09/identity-theft-credit- reports/)

</comment><comment><USER5> If it's just your card and address and not SSN, call citibank's real number to get your card cancelled.

If it's also SSN, consider and ID protection service until you can sort the problem out long term.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yeah I did that. And I have ID protection service.

<comment><USER5> Phew :) Then thanks to the way our US system currently runs, I don't think there is much else to do? It's almost user unfriendly by design.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Get a card from a _decent & modern_ bank so no need to deal with similar bullshit ever. I heard Monzo is planning to launch in the US.</comment>