An Infinitely Large Napkin [pdf] (opens in new tab)

(venhance.github.io)

175 pointsbenstrumental4y ago17 comments

17 comments

Evan Chen is a very valuable person in the Math Olympiad scene.

The Geometry book [1] he wrote in high school is required reading for any serious competitor and I believe he is the main responsible for some bringing some techniques into the olympic meta, such as Barycentric Coordinates.

Also, his blog post [2] about writing is one of the best ones I've ever read.

[1] https://web.evanchen.cc/geombook.html [2] https://blog.evanchen.cc/2015/03/14/writing/

voidhorse4y ago

Seems like a really interesting person. Off topic, but his assertions that the majority of students are “conned” into thinking math is important is strange to me. Almost everyone I know always knew they’d never need to know the Pythagorean theorem for the vast majority of life’s obstacles—they weren’t tricked into thinking it was important, they learned it because as a kid you don’t have any power and are coerced to complete certain tests to make your way along a certain circumscribed educational track.

tuatoru4y ago

The Pythagorean theorem is really useful for any construction. Builders use it regularly. More experienced DIYers also use it. Not a good example of rarely used schoolbook learning.

How about obscure stuff about hyperbolic trig functions (sinh, tanh and so on)?

1 more reply

dezren394y ago

thank you for this comment this turned my day around

dang4y ago

A bit of past discussion:

An Infinitely Large Napkin - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20168936 - June 2019 (32 comments)

An Infinitely Large Napkin [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12467506 - Sept 2016 (3 comments)

mgradowski4y ago

This book exposed me to proper math back in high school, I liked it.

jimmyvalmer4y ago

Never heard the author, but having read his blog, I've concluded I am this guy modulo the talent and the fact that he got to my way of thinking in half the time.

Cauchy20224y ago

Off-topic: Mobile version only loads the title page of the book and leaves all remaining pages blank. I thought that was the joke.

tartakovsky4y ago

1. Not off topic. 2. Mobile version of what, it’s a pdf. 3. I can see the full text on my iPhone.

apollo12134y ago

You can read the PDF directly in browser: https://docmadeeasy.com/v/484772290

1 more reply

Cauchy20224y ago

The Material app on Android. Loading pdf in app and it turns out that I can only see the first page followed by endless blank pages

1 more reply

lupire4y ago

It's 900pages (but under 10MB on disk) so your app might have trouble getting it into memory.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

17 comments

quirino4y ago

Evan Chen is a very valuable person in the Math Olympiad scene.

Also, his blog post [2] about writing is one of the best ones I've ever read.

[1] https://web.evanchen.cc/geombook.html [2] https://blog.evanchen.cc/2015/03/14/writing/

voidhorse4y ago

tuatoru4y ago

The Pythagorean theorem is really useful for any construction. Builders use it regularly. More experienced DIYers also use it. Not a good example of rarely used schoolbook learning.

How about obscure stuff about hyperbolic trig functions (sinh, tanh and so on)?

1 more reply

dezren394y ago

thank you for this comment this turned my day around

dang4y ago

A bit of past discussion:

An Infinitely Large Napkin - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20168936 - June 2019 (32 comments)

An Infinitely Large Napkin [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12467506 - Sept 2016 (3 comments)

mgradowski4y ago

This book exposed me to proper math back in high school, I liked it.

jimmyvalmer4y ago

Never heard the author, but having read his blog, I've concluded I am this guy modulo the talent and the fact that he got to my way of thinking in half the time.

Cauchy20224y ago

Off-topic: Mobile version only loads the title page of the book and leaves all remaining pages blank. I thought that was the joke.

tartakovsky4y ago

1. Not off topic. 2. Mobile version of what, it’s a pdf. 3. I can see the full text on my iPhone.

apollo12134y ago

You can read the PDF directly in browser: https://docmadeeasy.com/v/484772290

1 more reply

Cauchy20224y ago

The Material app on Android. Loading pdf in app and it turns out that I can only see the first page followed by endless blank pages

1 more reply

lupire4y ago

It's 900pages (but under 10MB on disk) so your app might have trouble getting it into memory.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse