# Principia Mathematica by Whitehead and Russell

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/principia-mathematica/

7 people recommended Principia Mathematica by Whitehead and Russell in Hacker News comments, 3 had mixed feelings and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 12 months, in 1 thread. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

7 of the 7 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “Principia Mathematica is modern and insightful”.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a landmark of formal logic that shaped later work on formal systems, and as a demanding read for serious students. Critics find its length, tedious presentation and archaic syntax hard going.

Summary written by Claude from 20 comments.

## What people warn about

- Archaic, hard-to-parse syntax (2 comments in the sample): "gave up after a few pages, because for me it was nearly impossible to parse the syntax" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49282000)) "The archaic syntax is a serious issue." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49281287))

## Other mathematics books people recommend

- [Elements by Euclid by Oliver Byrne](https://hackerapproved.com/p/elements-of-euclid/): 14 recommend, 2 mixed, 9 criticize
- [Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fermat-s-last-theorem/): 11 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize
- [Gödel's Proof by Nagel and Newman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/g-del-s-proof/): 9 recommend, 0 mixed, 1 criticize
- [Mathematica: A Secret World of Intuition and Curiosity by David Bessis](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mathematica-a-secret-world-of-intuition-and-curiosity/): 8 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Principia Mathematica by Whitehead and Russell", https://hackerapproved.com/p/principia-mathematica/ (7 recommend, 3 mixed, 6 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.