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Pythagoras' theorem (a) | Math History | NJ Wildberger

Insights into Mathematics
Courses
YouTube
6 HN users recommended this course6 months2014–2024 score 6.5
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

Recommended as an easy-to-follow math history course that gives perspective on the subject.

The first lecture of N J Wildberger's History of Mathematics course, starting with Pythagoras' theorem and following Stillwell's text. It emphasizes the flow of ideas over proofs.

“Highly recommend his History of Mathematics lectures on YouTube” (HN, 2023)

1 strong recommendations · 5 recommendations · Courses · intro

6 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@askar_yu Sep 2014 Recommends
on HN thread Al-Jazari
slightly OT, but I've enjoyed N J Wildberger's lectures on History of Math: [this video] It's a good coverage of fundamental theorems in Math with well balanced historical touch.
Covers fundamental theorems with a balanced historical touch
@AareyBaba Feb 2020 Recommends
on HN thread A Map of Mathematics
This is a much more entertaining map of mathematics in about 10 minutes [link] For a history of mathematics NJ Wildberger's lectures are easy to listen to. [this video]
Easy-to-listen history of mathematics lectures
@chadcmulligan May 2020 Recommends
on HN thread Ask HN: How to Study Mathematics?
Maybe some history of mathematics, to give you some perspective on it all? Something I wish I'd known when I did my degree, Norman Wildberger has a great course: [this video] Visual Group Theory, by Nathan Carter is a book you can get something from no matter your level of maths, imho. If you know some linear algebra, Gilbert Strang's course on YouTube may be interesting - [link]
Great course giving perspective on mathematics
@mbivert Aug 2024 Recommends
on HN thread Galois Theory
> I'd be interested in any recommendations for math history tomes like that. Not a book, but FWIW, I've enjoyed a few videos from Norman Wildberger's "Math History" playlist[0]. Interestingly, he has a unconventional view of infinite processes in mathematics, a point of view that used to be common about a century ago or so. I'm sure knowing some amount of history is useful, but there must be a limit to how much of it is practically useful though. [this video]
Math history playlist with an unconventional view of infinity

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.

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