Statistical Rethinking
Statistical Rethinking by Richard McElreathby Richard McElreath
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 5 probability textbooks
Recommended as an accessible, practical Bayesian statistics introduction and causal modeling reference. Critics say it assumes existing statistics proficiency and reads as written to impress professors.
Recommended as an accessible, practical Bayesian statistics introduction and causal modeling reference. Critics say it assumes existing statistics proficiency and reads as written to impress professors.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, 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
Accessible, intuitive introduction to Bayesian statistics
“widely regarded as the most accessible intro textbook to Bayesian statistics”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: Would you read a statistics textbook?” “practical/applied/intuitive approach to Bayesian Statistics”
Comment from 23 Mar 2026 in “Bayesian statistics for confused data scientists” Popular introductory Bayesian textbook
“widely regarded as the most accessible intro textbook to Bayesian statistics”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: Would you read a statistics textbook?” “A popular intro Bayesian book Statistical Rethinking has a similar”
Comment from 16 Sep 2026 in “We do modern frequentist statistics: Using fake-data simulation”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Assumes existing statistics proficiency
“Rethinking is indeed written for people who have some or even a lot of existing proficiency in statistics”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: Would you read a statistics textbook?” Feels written to impress professors
“Overall it feels like a textbook written to impress other statistics professors”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: Would you read a statistics textbook?”
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 McElreathThis page | 10 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Think Bayesby Allen Downey | 4 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Probability Theory: The Logic of Scienceby Jaynes | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| The Elements of Statistical Learningby Hastie, Tibshirani and Friedman | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Introduction to Probabilityby Blitzstein and Hwang | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
9 of the 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“A popular intro Bayesian book Statistical Rethinking has a similar”
“Rethinking is indeed written for people who have some or even a lot of existing proficiency in statistics”
“I like Statistical Rethinking, but unfortunately the solver was very slow and I didn't end up using it much”
“Overall it feels like a textbook written to impress other statistics professors”
“widely regarded as the most accessible intro textbook to Bayesian statistics”
“a great reference for causal thinking and modeling”
“I recommend chapter 14 of Richard McElreath's Statistical Rethinking for a better introduction of GPs.”
“practical/applied/intuitive approach to Bayesian Statistics”
“Statistical Rethinking (all editions) is a great book if you're interested in how models work and how science actually works”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.