About
About Knaph
Knaph is an attempt to map human knowledge the way it really is: ideas built on other ideas, each one worked out by people, often over centuries. Anyone should be able to see where they stand in that map, learn what comes next in the right order, and find out how we came to know it.
Why "Knaph"?
Human Knowledge Graph
Kn from Knowledge, aph from Graph. A graph is nodes and the links between them. Here the nodes are concepts, and each link says what a concept builds on, so learning one thing leads to the next and the whole grows into a map of what people know.
What's here
The map
Domains from mathematics to grammar, the concepts in them, and what each one needs first. A concept is learned in up to three levels, each proven by answering questions rather than by reaching the end of a page.
Courses
Hands-on courses whose lessons each teach a concept on the map, with exercises graded by running your code and quizzes along the way.
Stories
Books about where ideas came from. The first is the story of the atom, from the Greek coast of Asia Minor to a picture of single atoms. Every claim is footnoted and every picture credited.
What we believe about learning
Order matters
An idea makes sense once what it builds on is in place. The map shows that order and opens a concept when you're ready for it.
Prove it, don't assume it
Knowing a concept means answering its questions correctly. What you've proven comes back for review, spaced out so it lasts.
Come back deeper
Later ideas send you back to earlier ones at a deeper level: natural numbers look different once you know the real numbers. The map is built for that spiral.
Show the sources
Ideas have histories, and claims have sources. Stories cite every claim, so you can always check where something comes from.
Who's building it
An educator and software engineer with a PhD background, building Knaph from both sides: teaching, and doing the work being taught. Courses come from firsthand practice; stories come from primary sources and the scholarship around them.