A Mathematician's Lament
by Paul Lockhart · first published 2009
66% recommend31% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Passionate argument that school math drills symbols and rules and hides its creative, art-like core. Suits teachers, parents, and anyone who hated math class and wants to see what mathematics really is.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2012–2025Measurement
Paul Lockhart
Recommended by 23 · mentioned by 3023 recommend · 30 mention23 recommend · 3023 recommend
Graphs and their uses
óystein Ore
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 22 recommend · 2 mention2 recommend · 22 recommend
2014–2025Mathematical circles
S. A. Genkin
Recommended by 6 · mentioned by 66 recommend · 6 mention6 recommend · 66 recommend
2012–2024College algebra
James Stewart
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 42 recommend · 4 mention2 recommend · 42 recommend
2014–2021Euler
William Dunham
Recommended by 5 · mentioned by 65 recommend · 6 mention5 recommend · 65 recommend
2012–2021Everyday Math
WrightGroup/McGraw-Hill
0 recommend · 5 mentioned0 recommend · 5 mention0 recommend · 50 recommend
Burn math class
Jason Wilkes
Recommended by 9 · mentioned by 139 recommend · 13 mention9 recommend · 139 recommend
2008–2025The Mathematical Experience
Philip J. Davis, Reuben Hersh, Elena Anne Marchisotto
Recommended by 20 · mentioned by 2820 recommend · 28 mention20 recommend · 2820 recommend
…together. In these cases, I seem to quickly get a full grasp of the operation and essence of the tool. I wish education was based around this principle. A bit like what Paul Lockhart advocated for in "A Mathematician's Lament" (https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament....)
on “In defense of complicated programming languages” ↗…invariably taught by non-mathematicians, in a highly non-mathematical way--in fact, in a way that is antithetical to the very core of the subject. Please google and read Paul Lockhart's essay titled "A Mathematician's Lament" to see if you really understand just what mathematics is (or if deleterious notions from your schooldays are continuing to blind you from the simple beauty of pure mathematics). I will add as well the…
on “Ask HN: How or where to begin learning mathematics from first principles?” ↗…Not because the reforms are any good, but because they're so tiny and insignificant. "School math" is already an absurd parody of the real thing (rather than repeat the argument, see Paul Lockhart "A Mathematician's Lament"). And I'm supposed to get up in arms about switching to a slightly different long-division algorithm? Seriously? These parents and teachers are so ignorant of mathematics that they can't even form coherent…
on “Common core long division.” ↗Cool, i also had an "aha" moment while reading: “It was only after grad school that I learned (from Lockhart’s book Mathematician’s Lament) to consider natural numbers as stones that can be arranged in various patterns that illustrate the different properties of a number. For example, evens are piles of stones that can be arranged into two…
on “The Math I Learned After I Thought Had Already Learned Math” ↗This is why math teaching pedagogy is important. I'm a fan of first principals and pattern finding for learning math (see Mathematician's Lament by Lockhart [0]). Most kids in the US are historically taught memorization tricks. You have a kid who can't recall if x^1 = 0 or 1 or if it was x^0 = 1 or 0. They can't _remember_ some fact like a needle…
on “Math Problems for children from 5 to 15 (2004) [pdf]” ↗I agree. I recommend "A Mathematician’s Lament" by Paul Lockhart. It's an excellent essay on math education. The entire paper is long but even the first 5 pages are great. It covers everything from the unacknowledged creativity that is involved in…
on “The curious case of the number 3435” ↗…children referred to instances where they had been confused by different teaching methods, while secondary students commented on poor interpersonal relations. For the teaching methods, I'll defer to A Mathematician's Lament by Lockhart. Kids are taught to memorize and often by teachers (esp in grade school) who don't understand the math. When I got my teaching credentials in secondary mathematics, one of the points driven…
on “Report examines origins and nature of 'math anxiety'” ↗I'd recommend starting with the (much, much) shorter, modern sequel: Paul Lockhart's "Mathematician's Lament"[1] It addresses a different side of the question. Namely, why, if mathematics is about beauty, most people perceive it as an instrument of torture? (The TL;DR is: the way we teach math is often a nonsencial…
on “The Aesthetic Beauty of Math” ↗…a brilliant teacher who was allowed to teach however he wanted, and we left 8th grade understanding trigonometry better than most of the high schoolers we were with. Have you read Paul Lockhart's "A Mathematician's Lament"? That highlights the problems fundamental with the current math curriculum. From the tests that you linked me to, with all due respect, it doesn't look like you're doing anything different: you're spitting…
on “Gladwell: Getting In, The social logic of Ivy League admissions” ↗…age is necessarily a bad thing, but with the current math curricula worldwide being what they are, I can't think of anything more pedagogically unsound than what you're describing. EDIT: (See also: "A Mathematician's Lament" by Paul Lockhart http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf)
on “Is 0 Odd or Even?” ↗…the same culture that I came from, but the early significant milestones in my mathematical education were: 1. Reading the "aha!" books by Martin Gardner, as a child. 2. Reading Lockhart's "A Mathematician's Lament" [1] 3. Linear algebra, calculus, and complex analysis classes. I was taught these at Cornell; you might look for them via MIT's OpenCourseWare [2]. 4. A bunch of combinatorics, from Cornell's…
on “Ask HN: Learn Math the Hard Way” ↗…misunderstood, and so widely hated. The idea has become humorous to me -- math, a natural pervasive wonder of our universe, hated by many. Very impressive feat. On this topic this book is great: A Mathematician's Lament by Paul Lockhart. It opened my eyes to the concept of viewing much of math not in terms of something strictly practical, but rather in broader terms, ie. natural art and beauty with very practical applications…
on “The First Simple Symmetric 11-Venn Diagram found” ↗…traditional teaching of school subjects is that they teach many years, but don't make you use it. (Compare to playing with a ball, when you do it before learning about classical mechanics.) BTW: See "A Mathematician’s Lament"by Paul Lockhart http://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/devlin/LockhartsL...
on “Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years (1998)” ↗…manipulation. In general, they are the form of - We call this as Title X. In this X, you have ABC; you then do MNO* operations to get YZ. There's hardly context of when to use them or what they really mean. "A Mathematician's Lament" by Paul Lockhart hits hard here. https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament....
on “Linear Algebra Review and Reference (2012) [pdf]” ↗Hackers & Painters by Paul Graham A Mathematician's Lament by Paul Lockhart.
on “Ask HN: Books that teach you to think” ↗