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Via: Guardian.co.uk Posted: 2012-01-18
causes in 1920, leaving a rich legacy that is still not fully understood. There has never been
another mathematical life story like it: absolutely riveting.
The classic text What is Mathematics? by Richard Courant and Herbert Robbins focused on
the subject's nuts and bolts. It answered its title question by example. Hersh takes a more
philosophical view, based on his experience as a professional mathematician. The common
working philosophy of most mathematicians is a kind of vague Platonism: mathematical
concepts have some sort of independent existence in some ideal world. Although this is what
it feels like to insiders, Hersh argues that mathematics is a collective human construct like
money or the Supreme Court. However, it is a construct constrained by its own internal logic;
it's not arbitrary. You choose the concepts that interest you, but you don't get to choose how
they behave.
Ian Stewart
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