Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction

by Unknown author

11mentions

9recommended by

11HN commenters

2009–2026first – last mentioned

82% recommend18% neutral

Why HN recommends it

Short, readable overview of what mathematics is and how mathematicians think, with clear explanations of abstraction; recommended as a starting point for beginners and curious non-specialists.

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Mathematics

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What Hacker News says

pash · Dec 8, 2012 · Recommends

…like infinity (and different kinds of infinity!) are entirely foreign to our daily experience. (2) In addition, mathematics is more abstract than most programming. Tim Gowers, in his lovely little book Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction, writes: What is the black king in chess? This is a strange question, and the most satis- factory way to deal with it seems to be to sidestep it slightly. What more can one do than point…
on “Why math is painful to read” ↗
rsaarelm · Jul 4, 2020 · Recommends

…split into dry theory where you have to already know math to be able to properly read them and books that are simplified to death for people who are forced to study math and don't want to. Tim Gowers' Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction is a popular book on doing mathematics. Not a textbook that teaches you mathematics, so wouldn't give this as the only book, but popular "what's the field like" books could be very interesting to a high…
on “Ask HN: Recommend a maths book for a teenager?” ↗
rramadass · Aug 4, 2026 · Recommends

…Worlds: Mathematics and Destiny which i have found pretty interesting and thought-provoking in this regard - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivar_Ekeland Read the first one in particular. 2) Timothy Gowers' Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction is more focused on Concepts/Abstraction/Models and hence relevant here.
on “Reality cannot be turned into mathematics” ↗
keithpeter · Feb 9, 2019 · Recommends

…from OA that struck me as on the button... "A prejudice that was strongly confirmed was the value of mathematical fluency. Barton says, and I agree with him (and suggested something like it in my book Mathematics, A Very Short Introduction) that it is often a good idea to teach fluency first and understanding later." Agree fully with Barton and OA here. Until recently I taught GCSE Maths re-take students aged 16 and over in a further education…
on “How Craig Barton wishes he’d taught maths” ↗
tokenadult · Feb 27, 2009 · Recommends

…Geometry by John Stillwell. http://www.amazon.com/Numbers-Geometry-John-Stillwell/dp/038... The Pleasures of Counting by T. W. Körner http://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Counting-T-W-K%C3%B6rner/dp/... Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction by Timothy Gowers http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Short-Introduction-Timothy...
on “Ask HN: Books That Gratify One's Intellectual Curiosity?” ↗
grosales · Jun 19, 2009 · Recommends

You could start with Mathematics: A very short introduction by Timothy Gowers. It's a quick read, and the way Gowers writes about important Mathematical topics is interesting and, for the most part, easy to understand. http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Short-Introduction-Timothy...
on “Ask HN: good math books” ↗
GrangalanJr · Jul 17, 2011 · Recommends

Here are some nice introductory ones: Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction (Tim Gowers): http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Short-Introduction-Timothy... The Language of Mathematics: Making the Invisible Visible (Keith Devlin): http://www.amazon.com/Language-Mathematics-Making-Invisible-...…
on “Does one have to be a genius to do maths?” ↗
sundarurfriend · Dec 25, 2017 · Recommends

…https://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~wtg10/vsipage.html , including the last link on the page that delves a bit into the philosophy behind mathematics and its implications. That page in turn was found at the end of the author's book 'Mathematics: a Very Short Introduction', which is pretty good exploration of what goes into mathematical definitions and how modern mathematical thinking works, addressed towards the layman but without excessive watering down of the subject.
on “The existence of the square root of two (2001)” ↗
nightchalk16 · Sep 3, 2021 · Recommends

Probably not what you are looking for, but i like these elementary books: Mathematics for the curious - Peter Higgins Mathematics rebooted - Lara Alcock Mathematics: a very short introduction - Timothy Gowers The Essence of Mathematics Through Elementary Problems https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/the-essence-of-...
on “Ask HN: Book Suggestions for Relearning Math” ↗
jleader · Mar 21, 2011 · Mentions

…just wanted to say that I like the way the article refers to "great teachers" in the plural, and to "the one" bad teacher in the singular. Also, to misconception #4, I just finished reading Gowers' "Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction", where he tangentially makes the point that sometimes putting too much effort into trying to get students to understand "the meaning" behind some piece of mathematical technique may be misguided, in…
on “Misconceptions about the Khan Academy” ↗
incision · Dec 28, 2013 · Mentions

Yes and it's conveniently available on Safari [0] if the sticker shock of the print edition is too much. Also, the editor Tim Gowers wrote Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction [1]. 0: http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/math/9781400830398 1: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SEP2T2/
on “Great books about mathematics” ↗