Submission + - The Ultimate nerd site? (metamath.org)
G3ckoG33k writes: I guess there are more aspects of nerdiness than many wish to admit. Still, whenever I wish indulge in my own lack of extrovert stamina I visit the Metamath web page. Their "Proof Explorer" is described as "Inspired by Whitehead and Russell's monumental Principia Mathematica, the Metamath Proof Explorer has over 8,000 completely worked out proofs, starting from the very foundation that mathematics is built on and eventually arriving at familiar mathematical facts and beyond. Each proof is pieced together with razor-sharp precision using a simple substitution rule that practically anyone (with lots of patience) can follow, not just mathematicians. Every step can be drilled down deeper and deeper into the labyrinth until axioms of logic and set theory — the starting point for all of mathematics — will ultimately be found at the bottom. You could spend literally days exploring the astonishing tangle of logic leading, say, from the seemingly mundane theorem 2+2=4 back to these axioms. Essentially everything that is possible to know in mathematics can be derived from a handful of axioms known as Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory, which is the culmination of many years of effort to isolate the essential nature of mathematics and is one of the most profound achievements of mankind. " How can you not just love it?!
