The Beginning of Infinity
The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutschby David Deutsch
Shares rank 12 of 50 popular science books by recommenders
People recommend it for its thought-provoking ideas on infinite possibilities, its case against finitists, and its many fascinating facts.
People recommend it for its thought-provoking ideas on infinite possibilities, its case against finitists, and its many fascinating facts.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Explores infinite possibilities
“good book to realize there are infinite possibilities to explore”
Comment from 30 May 2026 in “The Dead Economy Theory” Interesting arguments against finitists
“had some interesting thoughts on why finitists are wrong”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “A new bridge links the math of infinity to computer science” Packed with fascinating facts
“Jam packed with fascinating facts.”
Comment from 13 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: Thought-Provoking Books” Source of ideas discussed elsewhere
“This idea is from, and is explored more, in a book called The Beginning of Infinity.”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “Claude's New Constitution”
Other popular science books people recommend
The four most recommended other popular science books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gödel, Escher, Bachby Douglas R. Hofstadter | 47 | 10 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Thinking, Fast and Slowby Daniel Kahneman | 17 | 13 | 57% | 9 | — | — |
| Thinking in Systemsby Donella H. Meadows and Diana Wright | 17 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| The Selfish Geneby Richard Dawkins | 14 | 5 | 74% | 8 | — | Approved |
| The Beginning of Infinityby David DeutschThis page | 6 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“good book to realize there are infinite possibilities to explore”
“This idea is from, and is explored more, in a book called The Beginning of Infinity.”
“Jam packed with fascinating facts.”
“had some interesting thoughts on why finitists are wrong”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.