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Imaginary Numbers Are Real [Part 1: Introduction]

Welch Labs · course · Watch on YouTube

Pure mathematicsRecreational & visual math

What it is

The first part of Welch Labs' series on imaginary numbers, presenting them as the natural extension of the number line into two dimensions. It covers the history and the math with strong visuals.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN commenters rate the series as some of the best visual teaching on complex numbers and recommend it for building intuition.

  • 7 people recommended it
  • 7 different months
  • 4 strong recommendations
  • first 2017, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “The greatest audiovisual content on the topic I have ever seen”

    A multi-part audiovisual series on imaginary numbers.

    pedrodelfino, 2017-08 · Strong recommendation · in “Imaginary Numbers Are Real – YouTube Series”

  2. “Welch Labs has a wonderful series on youtube on imaginary numbers”

    Welch Labs' wonderful series on imaginary numbers.

    rrauenza, 2017-12 · Strong recommendation · in “What are the complex numbers, really?”

  3. “Great explanations, engaging content and high production value.”

    Great explanations and high production value on complex numbers.

    wodenokoto, 2021-09 · Strong recommendation · in “A layman’s guide to recreational mathematics videos”

  4. “I really like this series on it by Welch Labs - loads of easily digestible videos, and a history lesson to boot”

    Easily digestible videos on imaginary numbers plus a history lesson.

    tails4e, 2022-10 · Strong recommendation · in “The paper that keeps showing up”

  5. “I really enjoyed this video series on imaginary numbers. Went through the history as well as the math”

    Video series covering both the history and the math of imaginary numbers.

    jatsign, 2018-08 · Recommendation · in “A Visual, Intuitive Guide to Imaginary Numbers (2007)”

  6. “I found this YouTube series really helpful to understand basics of imaginary numbers.”

    Helpful series for understanding basics of imaginary numbers.

    magnetomax, 2023-02 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: What's the best lecture series you've ever seen?”

  7. “It is a great precursor to then thinking about quaternions”

    Explains solving equations with no real roots; a precursor to quaternions.

    wanderingmoose, 2025-01 · Recommendation · in “Quaternions and spherical trigonometry”

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

Topics: imaginary numbers, mathematics, visual math, math history, welch labs

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