# Numberphile

7 Hacker News commenters recommended Numberphile and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a free YouTube channel of mathematics videos that sparks curiosity and leads viewers to explore new areas of math. Some critics argue it inspires rather than teaches.

## Why people recommend it

- Sparks curiosity and deeper math exploration (2 comments): "It has taught me things from videos I can still recall a decade later and pushed me to explore different areas of math" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48086849)) "provided the exposure and critical nudge to follow up on a piqued curiosity" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48106122))
- Recommended alongside 3Blue1Brown (2 comments): "algorhythm has done wonders from my mathmatical ability by directing me to so much numberphile and 3Blue1Brown" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48639419)) "The greats on youtube are also worth watching: 3B1B, numberphile, etc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47510411))

## What people warn about

- Inspires rather than teaches (2 comments): "Numberphile doesn't do any education. That's like saying the Discovery Channel is educating a new generation of zoologists." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48086266)) "inspiration is not education" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48100582))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Veritasium](https://hackerapproved.com/p/veritasium.md): 44 recommend
- [Technology Connections YouTube channel](https://hackerapproved.com/p/technology-connections.md): 40 recommend
- [Asianometry](https://hackerapproved.com/p/asianometry-youtube-channel.md): 24 recommend
- [Gamers Nexus](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gamers-nexus.md): 22 recommend
- [Patrick Boyle YouTube channel](https://hackerapproved.com/p/patrick-boyle-youtube-channel.md): 17 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Numberphile", https://hackerapproved.com/p/numberphile/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).