On: Ask HN: Math books that made you significantly bet...

[eddsh1994]

This is sort of like recommending the art of computer programming as a way to learn how to code, isn’t it? Starting very far down the stack if you’re working through a 2000 year old book in Ancient Greek!

[geenew → eddsh1994]

Elements was a school textbook for 2000 years, up until ~100 years ago. It's a fine book to use for self-study.

Edit: Also, to state the obvious, it's been translated into English

[bombcar → eddsh1994]

Perhaps, but the Elements is quite understandable, and surprisingly enough it's been translated - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Euclid%20elements

[leephillips → eddsh1994]

Some schools still teach geometry from the Elements. It doesn’t matter how old the book is. Mathematics is timeless.