How mathematicians think : using ambiguity, contradiction, and paradox to create mathematics / William Byers.
"To many outsiders, mathematicians appear to think like computers, grimly grinding away with a strict formal logic and moving methodically - even algorithmically - from one black-and-white deduction to another. Yet mathematicians often describe their most important breakthroughs as creative, in...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Princeton :
Princeton University Press,
c2007.
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | "To many outsiders, mathematicians appear to think like computers, grimly grinding away with a strict formal logic and moving methodically - even algorithmically - from one black-and-white deduction to another. Yet mathematicians often describe their most important breakthroughs as creative, intuitive responses to ambiguity, contradiction, and paradox. A unique examination of this less-familiar aspect of mathematics, How Mathematicians Think reveals that mathematics is a profoundly creative activity and not just a body of formalized rules and results."--BOOK JACKET. |
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| Physical Description: | vii, 415 p. ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780691127385 (acidfree paper) 0691127387 (acid-free paper) 9780691145990 (pbk.) 0691145997 (pbk.) |