# A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram

4 Hacker News commenters recommended A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram and 7 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a clear, worthwhile read for people interested in its subject; critics find it repetitive, overhyped, and short on practical use cases.

## Why people recommend it

- Clear explanations and overall quality (1 comments): "the clarity of his explanations and the quality of the book overall" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49404692))
- Worth reading for interested readers (1 comments): "Super cool book and absolutely worth reading if you're into this kind of thing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46141283))

## What people warn about

- Credits Wolfram with others' discoveries (2 comments): "Why blame the book for giving the author credit, instead of the author for giving himself credit?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49404633)) "it seems to give Wolfram credit for a bunch of discoveries made by a huge array of people" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49404521))
- Repetitive, grandiose, needs editing (2 comments): "NKS was bloviating, grandiose, repetitive, and shallow." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46142151)) "My goodness it's bad and need of an editor." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47132718))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter](https://hackerapproved.com/p/g-del-escher-bach.md): 47 recommend
- [Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thinking-fast-and-slow.md): 17 recommend
- [Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thinking-in-systems.md): 17 recommend
- [The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins](https://hackerapproved.com/p/selfish-gene.md): 14 recommend
- [Cosmos by Carl Sagan](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cosmos.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1579550193?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781579550196) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram", https://hackerapproved.com/p/a-new-kind-of-science/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).