Awesome Explorables

A curated list of Explorable Explanations: resources following the concept of reactive documents and active reading as defined by Bret Victor.

Contents

• Math
  • Statistics And Probability
  • Linear Algebra
  • Geometry
  • Logic
• Algorithms
  • Machine Learning And Neural Networks
  • Programming
  • Data Structures
• Science
• Physics
• Psychology
• Systems And Thought Experiments
• Creativity
• Other
• About Explorable Explanations
• Tools & Resources
• Books And Essays

Math

↑ top

• Explained Visually
  • Image Kernels
  • Pi (π)
  • Exponentiation
• Better Explained - Math without endless memorization.
• Euclid: The Game
• The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Mandelbrot set
• vf.rohanp.xyz - Interactive demonstration of vector field flow.
• World of Mathematics
• Primer on Bézier Curves
• Math Insight - Copious interactive diagrams and ingenious experiments with digital publishing.
• Circles Sines and Signals - Compact primer on digital signal processing.

Statistics And Probability

↑ top

• Conditional Probability
• Exploring Histograms
• Humans Suck At Entropy
• Interpreting Confidence Intervals - Interpreting Confidence Intervals.
• Markov Chains
• Ordinary Least Squares Regression
• Principal Component Analysis
• Probdef - Open-source game about probability and inference leading up to Bayes Theorem.
• Seeing Theory - Visual introduction to probability and statistics.
• Simpson's Paradox
• Science Isn't Broken - On scientific method (p-values).
• Years You Have Left to Live, Probably - Great illustration of survival analysis, and of probabalistic proccesses in general.

Linear Algebra

↑ top

• Eigenvectors and Eigenvalues
• Interactive 2d Matrix
• Immersive Math - Linear algebra book with ully interactive figures.
• Invitation to Another Dimension

Geometry

↑ top

• How to Fold a Julia Fractal - Brilliant use of animation to show complex mathematical processes geometrically.
• Trigonometry - Simple interactive trigonometry.
• Sine and Cosine

Logic

↑ top

• The Incredible Proof Machine - Visual approach to propositional logic.

Algorithms

↑ top

• Compression Decompression - Or, Making Things Smaller: A Visual Introduction.
• Visualizing Algorithms - Visualizing algorithms, by mike bostock.
• visualgo.net - Interactive computer science algorithms and data structures.
• Quicksort - The quicksort algorithm, illustrated with playing cards.
• Second-Order Controls
• How to Use t-SNE Effectively - Visualizing high-dimensional data.
• Promisees - Promise visualization playground for the adventurous.
• Back to the Future of Handwriting Recognition - Active Essay Revisiting the GRAIL Handwriting Recognizer.
• Bloom Filters
• Calculating The Intersection Area of 3+ Circles
• Line-intersection - Responsive parallel representations for the Bentley–Ottmann algorithm.
• Split Packing: An Algorithm for Packing Circles with up to Critical Density
• VisuAlgo
• Coloring Maps - Transforming numbers into colors.
• Interactive Diagrams for Wikipedia
• Visualizing Map Distortion
• Procedural Dungeon Generation: Cellular Automata

Machine Learning and Neural Networks

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• r2d3.us - Visual introduction to machine learning.
• Visual Interactive Guide To The Basics Of Neural Networks
• Neural Networks And Deep Learning - Free online interactive book about Neural Networks and Deep Learning.
• playground.tensorflow.org - Neural network playground.
• Attention and Augmented Recurrent Neural Networks
• Four Experiments in Handwriting with a Neural Network
• Confounding Variables

Programming

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• Red Blob Games - Visual and interactive ways of explaining math and computer algorithms.
  • Introduction To A* – How pathfinding algorithms work, by amit patel.
  • Hexagonal Grids - Interactive guide on implementing hexagonal grids.
  • Intro To Graph Theory
• Generating Fantasy Maps - Generating fantasy maps, the math behind.
• gamejolt.com - Topology, via asteroids, narrated.
• Interactive Introduction To Quantum Computing
• The Book Of Shaders - Gentle step-by-step guide to fragment shaders.
• What is code?
• Algojammer - An experimental code editor for writing algorithms

Data Structures

↑ top

• Quadtree - Interactive explanation of quadtrees, by jim kang.
• Bitcoin Blockchain - The basics behind decentralized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

Science

↑ top

• ncase.me - Simulating the world (in emoji😘).
• ncase.me - Neurotic neurons, an interactive animation on how exposure therapy works.
• Exploring Emergence - Introduction to cellular automata (from 1996! requires flash).
• internet-atlas.net - Critical atlas of internet.
• Visualizing Projections - Visualizing multiple camera projection techniques.
• Entropy Explained, With Sheep
• Pink Trombone - Hands-On Vocal Tract Simulation.

Physics

↑ top

• Angry Physics
• arogozhnikov.github.io - Hamiltonian monte carlo explained.
• Inside Einstein's head - Explorable explanation of relativistic spacetime, inspired by Albert Einstein's thought experiments.
• Interactive Introduction To Optical Modulation
• Nukemap - Nuclear explosion simulation tool by alex wellerstein.
• PhET Home Page - Interactive math and science simulations, based on extensive education research.
• Physics Simulations - Physics simulations which show how the math is derived.
• Waveforms - Let's Learn About Waveforms.

Psychology

↑ top

• The Evolution Of Trust
• Hooked: how slot machines are designed to be addictive.
• How Uber Uses Psychological Tricks to Push Its Drivers’ Buttons

Systems And Thought Experiments

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• Complexity Explorables - Collection of interactive explorable explanations of complex systems in many fields.
• Many Tiny Things - Every big thing in the world is made up of many tiny things.
• To Build A Better Ballot - an interactive guide to alternative voting systems
• Parable Of the Polygons - Simulation about segregation and diversity.
• Who’ll Freeze First ? - Puzzle about size and staying warm.

Creativity

↑ top

• Joy.js - Make happy little programs.
• Recursive Drawing - Create complex patterns from simple building blocks, by toby schachman.

Other

↑ top

• Ishkur's Guide To Electronic Music
• Learn Music - Experiment with beats, melody, harmony, basslines, and song structure.
• kevinhayeswilson.com - Redraw state boundaries with 2016 US election data.
• Kern Type - Explorable on kerning in typography.
• How Does Inequality Begin ? - Interactive simulation.
• Virus, The Beauty Of The Beast

About Explorable Explanations

↑ top

• Explorable Explanations
• worrydream.com - Scientific Communication As Sequential Art.
• worrydream.com - Up and down the ladder of abstraction – a systemic approach to interactive visualization.
• worrydream.com - Bret Victor's essay which coined the term "explorable explanations".
• Reinventing Explanation - Prototyping an accessible explanation of simpson's paradox.
• blog.ncase.me - Design patterns for explorable explanations.
• simblob.blogspot.de - Amit patel of red blob games looks back on 5 years of creating interactive explanations.
• Learning By Doing

Tools And Resources

↑ top

• Explorabl.es - Hub for learning through play!
• aprt.us - Open-source graphics editor and programming environment for creating interactive diagrams.
• awesome-livecoding - Curated list of live-coding resources.
• Coeffects - Context-aware programming languages.
• DynamicLand - Incubating a humane dynamic medium.
• Flex - YC Research - Interactive programming and solution exploration tools
  • Ohm - Visual parser generator and toolkit for building interpreters and compilers.
  • Chorus - Visual mobile programming using spreadsheet concepts
• GeoGebra - Dynamic mathematics for learning and teaching.
• Human Advancement Research Community - YC Research
• How I Make Explorable Explanations - By Nicky Case.
• Implementing Draggable Handles
• Improv.js - Tool to make explorable explanations.
• Data-driven Web Applications
• Idyll - Tool for making interactive narratives for the web.
• Iooxa - Web components and layouts for interactive scientific writing and creating explorables
• Lively Kernel
• Loopy - Tool for thinking in systems.
• Tangle Js Library for reactive documents.
• TangleDown
• Outside the box On SVG and Arrows.
• RedBlobGames - Making Of
• Self-Lang Prototype-based dynamic object-oriented programming language, environment, and virtual machine.

Books And Essays

↑ top

• Mindstorms - "mindstorms: children, computers, and powerful ideas", an influential 1980 book by seymour papert
• Elements of Euclid - oliver byrne's edition of euclid's "elements" uses colored diagrams and symbols instead of letters to proof theorems about math and geometry
• Envisioning Information
• Understanding Comics - "The pedagogical potential of the comic form is vast and mostly untapped" —Bret Victor
• Topological Picturebook
• Dynamics, the Geometry of Behavior
• Proofs without Words
• Relativity Visualized
• The Shape of Space
• Visual Group Theory
• Environment and Economy - Interactive guide to the eco-pragmatist philosophy.

Contributing

You are welcome to create a PR to contribute.

Please take a a look at the contribution guidelines and code of conduct.

If you see a link or a project that is broken or no longer working, please submit a pull request to improve this file. Thank you !

Community

• Visit the Explorabl.es hub.
• Or join the subreddit on /r/explorables.

License

To the extent possible under law, Chakib Benziane has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work.