Imaginary Numbers Are Real [Part 1: Introduction]

Welch Labs · 8.6M views · 2015-08-28 · 5:47

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Overview

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.

On Hacker News

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

Recommended by 7 HN people across 7 months · HN mentions 2017–2025

Topics

Pure mathematics Recreational & visual math

What people said

tails4e · 2022-10 · Strong recommendation
Yes, the name imaginary does it no favours. I was confused for so long about i, as it was never explained on classes, and it wasn't until 3blue1brown and other math youtubers showed me the light. I really like this series on it by Welch Labs - loads of easily digestible videos, and a history lesson to boot: [VIDEO]
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wodenokoto · 2021-09 · Strong recommendation
Welch labs has an amazing series on complex numbers called “imaginary numbers are real”. Great explanations, engaging content and high production value. [VIDEO]
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rrauenza · 2017-12 · Strong recommendation
Welch Labs has a wonderful series on youtube on imaginary numbers, "Imaginary Numbers Are Real": [VIDEO] I like to tell my kids that imaginary numbers aren't really imaginary .. that in many ways they're more real than the Reals.
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Sources

Video by Welch Labs, played through YouTube.

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