Essence of linear algebra preview

3Blue1Brown11 HN recommenders · 2016–2018
2.8M views · course · evergreen · Uploaded 2016-08-05

A five-minute preview of 3Blue1Brown's Essence of Linear Algebra series, which uses animation to build geometric intuition for topics from a standard linear algebra course.

HN repeatedly recommends the series as the best intuition-first, visual introduction to linear algebra and a benchmark for clear math explanation.

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14 comments from Hacker News

@tr2016 · in “Help support math education channel 3blue1brown (the Triangle of Power guy)”

The creator of the Triangle of Power ( [LINK] ) and the Essence of Linear Algebra ( [VIDEO] ). He is now trying to focus full time on online math education.

@c3534l2016 · in “Matrix Multiplication”

It at least cuts down on the amount of time you have to explain the mechanics of it. This is more intuitive to memorize than an algorithm composed of bullet-point instructions. For intuition, I highly recommend [VIDEO] - I think both the intuition and practicing the details should be learned.

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@wyc2017 · in “How a Kalman filter works, in pictures (2015)”

Wow, this lecturer is great! I think this is the most intuitive explanation of Kalman filters I've seen yet. I've seen other lecturers try to quickly jump into state space and lose students with big matrices. I would have paid good money for this if I wasn't already familiar with the material. The clarity is up there with The Essence of Linear Algebra: [VIDEO] Trading math videos on the Internet--definitely nerds.

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@espeed2017 · in “Why does e to pi i equal -1? (2015) [video]”

See the "Essence of Linear Algebra" (visualized) by the same author -- it should give you more intuition into the nature of the transformations: Essence of Linear Algebra [VIDEO]

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@espeed2017 · in “Big Picture of Calculus (2010) [video]”

Have you seen the Essence of Linear Algebra video series posted to HN a few days ago? Seeing the geometric transformations animated gives you intuition hard to develop otherwise: Essence of Linear Algebra (visualized) [VIDEO]

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@Double_Cast2017 · in “No bullshit guide to linear algebra – v2”

Fror a high-level overview of linear algebra, 3Blue1Brown's youtube series I cannot recommend highly enough. [VIDEO]

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@afarrell2017 · in “Ask HN: How do you unwind at the end of a day?”

Ooooh, these are nice. Here are mine: Extra History: stories of historical incidents — [LINK] Real Engineering: mostly materials science — [LINK] - Wendover Productions — mostly transportation - [LINK] Tom Scott: a bit of everything — [LINK] - Jay foreman: Urban planning and maps — [LINK] The Engineer Guy: Manufacturing — [LINK] Practical Engineering: Mostly Civil Engineering — [LINK] 3Blue1Brown: Math, visualized to me more intuitive — [VIDEO]

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@hal9000xp2017 · in “Linear Algebra for AI”

Is there any book which actually explains where matrix and its rules come from? Instead of throwing on you matrix multiplication rules in dogmatic way so you blindly follow them like mindless robot? I know there are lectures in YouTube from 3Blue1Brown : [VIDEO] So I want a book which covers linear algebra in the similar manner.

@makmanalp2017 · in “Special Linear Systems and Cholesky Factorization for Programmers”

For linear algebra basics, I also especially recommend 3Blue1Brown's youtube channel and his "Essence of" series: [VIDEO] I've never seen the material presented more clearly - it's completely visual and focused on building intuition first.

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@hexane3602017 · in “Down with Determinants (1995)”

If anyone's looking for a (high level) overview of linear algebra, I'd highly recommend 3blue1brown's video series: [VIDEO] It's mostly graphical, and is really helpful in forming and cementing an intuition for linear algebra.

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@skadamat2017 · in “Communicating Advanced Mathematics to Kids”

So many things I could say about this, but I"ll let Alan Kay speak for me - [LINK] Alan talks about how ideas in Calculus could be manifested from an early age and a richness in understanding built up as they aged up: - at very young ages, kids really respond well through "doing" / the enactive channel. When asked to draw a circle, kids in Papert's group would first emulate what a LOGO turtle would do by rotating their body in a circle (making tiny increments in x and y). - as they got a bit older, the visual / iconic channel was more developed and they could understand the abstraction of a circle on pencil/paper and how the concepts carried over there - closer to early teens, symbols were much easier to grasp and relate to, etc. With this context in mind, there have been some cool efforts to mix the second and third channels I just mentioned to communicate advanced math concepts. Vi Hart and Grant Sanderson's youtube channels come to mind. Here are my favorite videos by Grant: - "What does it feel like to invent math": [LINK] - On the visual intuition behind a hard problem on the Putnam exam - "The hardest problem on the hardest test": [LINK] - From vectors to matrices to vector spaces to higher-level ideas like the link between linear algebra and calculus: "Essence of linear algebra" series: [VIDEO] What I especially like about Grant's videos, is that he often walks through what a mathematician would do, the questions she would ask, etc.

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@dyarosla2017 · in “Matrices from a geometric perspective”

For an article like this I find that static visualizations aren't anywhere near as effective as dynamic ones found in a similar explanation here (3Blue1Brown on Linear Algebra Transformations) [VIDEO]

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@hiaux02018 · in “Ask HN: How to self-learn math?”

+1 And definitely follow through his "pause and ponder" sections. If you want to build up your maths skills, it is crucial to learn how to think in the maths way. Like becoming a good programmer involves writing lots of code yourself, or to become a good dancer you need to practice your steps. For maths it's abstract thinking. Appreciation of maths is one thing, having the discipline to self-study a whole other. Edit. Regarding your 2nd Edit: His videos are made for the broadest audience possible. I'd recommend picking any video whose topic interests you the most at the moment. You will see what knowledge you lack (take notes of these!) and can expand from there. Be it to watch his maths fundamental ((1)) series [0],[1] or just rewatch. ((1)): As in any other things, knowing your fundamentals is significant to the understanding of a topic. It won't help you at all if you can apply (copy paste) some machine learning techniques if you don't know about linear algebra at all. [0]: [VIDEO] [1]: [LINK]

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@dvddgld2018 · in “Ask HN: How to self-learn math?”

Two quick things I can recommend without hesitation, which focus on an intuitive understanding of concepts: 1. Essence of Linear Algebra mini-series - [VIDEO] 2. Better Explained website - [LINK] YouTube has a lot of high quality math content, it definitely helped through university. It's also worth mentioning the Stanford U courses. The main takeaway I have for you is learn the concepts intuitively first, then spend the time to play around with them on paper until they sink in. Some things will be easy, some will be frustrating, much like programming you will walk away from a frustrating problem and have an epiphany while doing something completely different. All the best and have fun!

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