The Elements of Statistical Learning
The Elements of Statistical Learning by Hastie, Tibshirani and Friedmanby Trevor Hastie and Robert Tibshirani and Jerome Friedman
Shares rank 3 of 5 probability textbooks by recommenders
Recommended as the machine learning bible, a well-known reference first published in 2001.
Recommended as the machine learning bible, a well-known reference first published in 2001.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not 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
Called the machine learning bible
“the machine learning bible, Elements of Statistical Learning (2001)”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Puzzling Success of Overparameterization: Lottery Tickets or Escape Dimensions?” Admired by a self-described fan
“as someone who's a big fan of Hastie et al's Elements”
Comment from 25 Apr 2026 in “There Will Be a Scientific Theory of Deep Learning”
Other probability textbooks people recommend
The four most recommended other probability textbooks, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statistical Rethinkingby Richard McElreath | 10 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Think Bayesby Allen B. Downey | 4 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| The Elements of Statistical Learningby Trevor Hastie and Robert Tibshirani and Jerome FriedmanThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Probability Theory: The Logic of Scienceby E. T. Jaynes | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Introduction to Probabilityby Joseph K. Blitzstein and Jessica Hwang | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
2 of the 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the machine learning bible, Elements of Statistical Learning (2001)”
“as someone who's a big fan of Hastie et al's Elements”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.