Musings of the masters
Subtitle: an anthology of mathematical reflections
By: edited by Raymond G. Ayoub.
Contributors: Ayoub, Raymond George, 1923-
Series: Spectrum series; MAA spectrum.
Publisher: Mathematical Association of America
Published: 2004
Place of publication: [Washington, DC?]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 277
Subjects: Mathematics.
Description: "This anthology is a collection of articles written by renowned mathematicians of the 20th Century. The articles are on a variety of topics that we refer to, for want of a better name, as "humanistic." An important criterion, thereby limiting the choice, is that the articles should be accessible to the literate reader who may or may not have a technical knowledge of mathematics." "The articles span roughly a century in time and touch on a wide range of subjects. They are by mathematicians acknowledged by their peers as outstanding creators whose work had added richly to the discipline. Each article is preceded by a brief biographical sketch of the author and some indication of the content. In many articles there is a common theme - the attempt to define the role of intuition in mathematical activities - intuition as contrasted with pure formalism, a contrast that can be briefly, if too simply, described by asking whether mathematics is invented or discovered."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 271-272) and index.
Table of contents: title: pt. 1. Mathematics and the intellect.; title: Mathematics and thinking mathematically -- Mary Cartwright; title: Mathematical invention -- Henri Poincaré; title: Thoughts on the heuristic method -- Jacques Hadamard; title: Mathematical proof -- G.H. Hardy; title: The unity of knowledge -- Hermann Weyl -- pt. 2. Mathematics and human understanding.; title: Mathematics and the arts -- Marston Morse; title: Intuition, reason and faith in science -- George David Birkhoff; title: Logic and the understanding of nature -- David Hilbert; title: The cultural basis of mathematics -- Raymond Wilder -- pt. 3. Mathematics and society.; title: Presidential address to the British Association -- J.J. Sylvester; title: The mathematician -- John von Neumann; title: The community of scholars -- André Lichnerowicz; title: History of mathematics: why and how -- André Weil -- pt. 4. Miscellaneous.; title: Does God exist? -- Paul Lévy; title: Goethe and mathematics -- Wilhelm Maak; title: Leonardo and mathematics -- Francesco Severi; title: The highest good -- Norbert Wiener.