To Mock a Mockingbird
To Mock a Mockingbird by Raymond Smullyanby Raymond Smullyan
Shares rank 16 of 19 mathematics books by recommenders
People recommend it as a collection of logical puzzles and as a way to introduce beginners to the subject. No critics raised a caveat.
3 people recommended To Mock a Mockingbird by Raymond Smullyan in Hacker News comments and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from 3 comments.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- mixed feelings
- 0
- warn against or regret it
- 0
The record
Recommended in 3 of 12 months
In 3 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
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 3 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
- Recommended in 3 threadsNeeds 5 or more, not met.
- The biggest thread supplies 33% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, 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 3 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
Great collection of logical puzzles
“it’s a great bunch of logical puzzles”
Comment from 31 Mar 2026 in “Combinators” Used to introduce beginners
“I know some attempts (although a bit incomplete) to show this to beginners”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “Logic for Programmers by Hillel Wayne”
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 | — | — |
| To Mock a Mockingbirdby Raymond SmullyanThis page | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 3 opinions about it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“And Smullyan's To Mock a Mockingbird.”
“I know some attempts (although a bit incomplete) to show this to beginners”
“it’s a great bunch of logical puzzles”
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.