hackertube.io

Who cares about topology? (Old version)

3Blue1Brown · explainer · Watch on YouTube

Pure mathematicsRecreational & visual math

What it is

An older 3Blue1Brown video on why topology matters, built around the inscribed rectangle problem. It walks through how tori and Mobius strips appear in the solution. The channel later replaced it with an updated version.

Why Hacker News recommends it

Fans name it as a favorite 3Blue1Brown video, praising its detective-story treatment of the inscribed square and rectangle problem.

  • 4 people recommended it
  • 4 different months
  • 3 strong recommendations
  • first 2017, last 2020

What HN commenters said

  1. “One of my favorite videos from his channel is "Who cares about topology? (Inscribed rectangle problem)”

    Elegant inscribed rectangle problem where torus and Mobius strip appear.

    yamaneko, 2017-02 · Strong recommendation · in “The Essence of Linear Algebra [video]”

  2. “I'd still wholeheartedly recommend his other videos though.”

    Topological result on inscribed rectangles in closed loops.

    rocqua, 2017-08 · Strong recommendation · in “A trick to visualizing higher dimensions [video]”

  3. “A particular favourite is the one on the Inscribed Square Problem”

    Detective-story style walkthrough of the inscribed square problem.

    thicknavyrain, 2018-07 · Strong recommendation · in “Going sponsor-free – 3blue1brown”

  4. “Here's a nice 3blue1brown video about the easier version of the inscribed rectangle problem”

    Nice treatment of the easier inscribed rectangle existence version.

    kmill, 2020-06 · Recommendation · in “New Geometric Perspective Cracks Old Problem About Rectangles”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: inscribed rectangle, mobius strip, torus, 3blue1brown, geometry

Also recommended by the same people