Elliptic Tales
Elliptic Tales by Avner Ash and Robert Großby Avner Ash and Robert Groß
Shares rank 18 of 19 mathematics books by recommenders
People recommend it as a rare popular book on higher mathematics for general readers, and as the best-known volume of a trilogy by Ash and Gross.
2 people recommended Elliptic Tales by Avner Ash and Robert Groß in Hacker News comments and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
2 of the 2 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “An elliptic curve of rank ≥ 30”.
Summary written by Claude from 5 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 4 of those comments still count.
2 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 2
- mixed feelings
- 0
- warn against or regret it
- 0
The record
Recommended in 2 of 12 months
In 2 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 2 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
- Recommended in 2 threadsNeeds 5 or more, not met.
- 2 of its 2 recommenders came from one threadNeeds half or less, not met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 3 of the 4 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Singled out within the trilogy
“Want to understand this more? Read the triplet of books by Ash and Gross, specially Elliptical Tales”
Comment from 20 Aug 2026 in “An elliptic curve of rank ≥ 30” “but maybe it is because I read it first”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “Six Math Essentials” Rare popular book on higher mathematics
“good popular books on higher mathematics difficult to come by”
Comment from 22 Feb 2026 in “Six Math Essentials”
Other mathematics books people recommend
The four most recommended other mathematics 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 | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elements by Euclidby Oliver Byrne | 14 | 2 | 9 | 61% | 8 | — | — |
| Fermat's Last Theoremby Simon Singh | 11 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Gödel's Proofby Nagel and Newman | 9 | 0 | 1 | 90% | 2 | — | — |
| Mathematica: A Secret World of Intuition and Curiosityby David Bessis | 8 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
| Elliptic Talesby Avner Ash and Robert GroßThis page | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
3 of the 4 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Want to understand this more? Read the triplet of books by Ash and Gross, specially Elliptical Tales”
“but maybe it is because I read it first”
“good popular books on higher mathematics difficult to come by”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.