How mathematicians think : using ambiguity, contradiction, and paradox to create mathematics /

Byers, William, 1943-

How mathematicians think : using ambiguity, contradiction, and paradox to create mathematics / William Byers. - Princeton : Princeton University Press, c2007. - vii, 415 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 399-405) and index.

Acknowledgments -- Introduction : Turning on the light -- Section 1 : The light of ambiguity -- Ambiguity in mathematics -- The contradictory in mathematics -- Paradoxes and mathematics : infinity and the real numbers -- More paradoxes of infinity : geometry, cardinality, and beyond -- Section 2 : The light as idea -- idea as an organizing principle -- Ideas, logic, and paradox -- Great ideas -- Section 3 : The light and the eye of the beholder -- truth of mathematics -- Conclusion : is mathematics algorithmic or creative? -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index. ch. 1. ch. 2. ch. 3. ch. 4. ch. 5. The ch. 6. ch. 7. ch. 8. The ch. 9.

9780691127385 (acidfree paper) 0691127387 (acidfree paper)

2006033160

GBA736823 bnb

013745985 Uk


Mathematicians--Psychology.
Mathematics--Psychological aspects.
Mathematics--Philosophy.

BF456.N7 / B94 2007

510.92