# A Primer of Infinitesimal Analysis by John L. Bell

3 Hacker News commenters recommended A Primer of Infinitesimal Analysis by John L. Bell and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as an introduction to smooth infinitesimal analysis, which one commenter calls a better system for developing calculus. Critics say its intuitive arguments are only heuristics.

## Why people recommend it

- Better system for developing calculus (2 comments): "It's a much better system to develop calculus on." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49309396)) "best take is Smooth infinitesimal analysis" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50236399))

## What people warn about

- Intuitive arguments are only heuristics (1 comments): "The seemingly very intuitive arguments in Bell's book "a primer of infinitesimal analysis" are only heuristics." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49352549))
- Presented as rigorous but heuristic (2 comments): "The book is written as if the intuitive arguments were actually rigorous; what's heuristic about them?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49357078)) "the proofs in the book are like that too" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49316436))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Algorithms for Optimization by Kochenderfer and Wheeler](https://hackerapproved.com/p/algorithms-for-optimization.md): 10 recommend
- [Mathematics for Computer Science by Lehman, Leighton and Meyer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mathematics-for-computer-science.md): 8 recommend
- [Numerical Recipes by Press et al.](https://hackerapproved.com/p/numerical-recipes.md): 7 recommend
- [Concrete Mathematics by Graham, Knuth and Patashnik](https://hackerapproved.com/p/concrete-mathematics.md): 7 recommend
- [Start Doing Graph Theory by Sam Burns](https://hackerapproved.com/p/start-doing-graph-theory.md): 7 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0511619626?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780511619625) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "A Primer of Infinitesimal Analysis by John L. Bell", https://hackerapproved.com/p/a-primer-of-infinitesimal-analysis/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).