THE VIDEO SHELF · mathematical reasoning
Feynman: 'Greek' versus 'Babylonian' mathematics
A clip of Richard Feynman contrasting the Greek and Babylonian traditions of mathematical reasoning. It compares the axiomatic approach of mathematicians with how physicists use mathematics.
Why HN readers recommended it
HN cites it when discussing how math should be learned and taught, and why physics isn't built from axioms.
This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.
Video & recommendation details
- Creator / channel
- TehPhysicalist
- Topic
- mathematical reasoning
- Format
- lecture
- Level
- general
- HN recommenders in dataset
- 2
- HN mentions in dataset
- 6
- Recommendation years in dataset
- 2015–2023
These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.
From the original HN conversations
Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.
> What is simple and clear about Python? .. it's really a pretty complex language with a deep ecosystem Here's a helpful video from Feynman that kinda explains it: [VIDEO] Python language (ditto Perl, Ruby..) uses Babylonian approach, while the languages with more fundamental building …
asgard1024 on Hacker News · 2015-09
In Bruce Eckel announces he's going to write Atomic PythonHere's the part of the lecture mentioned in the article: [VIDEO] Feynman was an excellent communicator, it's rare that having an intermediary "explain" what he was saying adds more than it takes away.
nerd_stuff on Hacker News · 2015-09
In Feynman the Babylonian (2009)
Summaries, classifications and recommendation records are from the HackerTube source dataset. Read about this library and its limitations.