Apologia di un matematico

“what are the uses of mathematics?” This has been a pervasive question that might have occurred to everyone who encounters mathematics in school or elsewhere throughout their lives. Euclid( a Greek mathematician who lived in 4th century BC) believed in the search of mathematical truth for its own sa Leggi tutto

A pragmatist's review of how math fits into our knowledge, world and psyche. Q: The mass of mathematical truth is obvious and imposing; its practical applications, the bridges and steam-engines and dynamos, obtrude themselves on the dullest imagination. The public does not need to be convinced that th Leggi tutto

Amusing, even if it was as sad as the introduction suggested. Read it in high school, but haven't since. Glad I took another crack at it. It just about made me want to crack open one of my math books! I enjoyed the style of exposition, as well as much of the message, though, admittedly, I probably l Leggi tutto

I wonder how much my enjoyment of this book was hampered by my mathematical incompetence. Not too much, I hope. CP Snow’s introduction is as good as the book, but you can’t fault Hardy with not giving you something to chew on. Rather than try to summarize my feelings about Hardy’s little book, I’m g Leggi tutto

The first thing the reader of this book will notice is that Hardy is an excellent writer. Although he repeatedly insists that his only talent lay in his mathematical ability, it is clear that he is a seasoned wordsmith. The first mark of a good writer is their seemingly effortless ability to convey t Leggi tutto

I object not to the message, but rather its form. Essentially, GH argues that mathematics is worth the world's time and effort--that it is a beautiful, creative, and noble pursuit. I'm already convinced of this, so maybe I'm not his target audience and should therefore shut up. I've spent a non-triv Leggi tutto

Recently I started teaching myself to program. An article I read recommended Project Euler, which is a set of math exercises intended to be completed with computer code. So for the last few months I've been doing more writing than reading, as I puzzled through these math problems. Research on variou Leggi tutto