In Search of Proofs from “The Book”
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In Search of Proofs from “The Book”
1–10 of 52 posts
Re: In Search of Proofs from “The Book”
#2I have a feeling they really mean Spinoza's God (like Einstein), but this use of 'God' causes confusion for a lot of readers. Some readers might think they are referring to the God of the Bible or Koran.
Re: In Search of Proofs from “The Book”
#3> The sixth edition will be the final one.
And so will the seventh.
Re: In Search of Proofs from “The Book”
#4I have a feeling they really mean Spinoza's God (like Einstein), but this use of 'God' causes confusion for a lot of readers. Some readers might think they are referring to the God of the Bible or Koran.
FTA:
Never mind that Erdős doubted God’s very existence. “You don’t have to believe in God, but you should believe in The Book,” Erdős explained to other mathematicians.
Re: In Search of Proofs from “The Book”
#5This book is a must have for anyone who loves Mathematics or problem solving in general. You'll find many celebrated problems attacked using concepts from seemingly disparate domains.
Re: In Search of Proofs from “The Book”
#6I have a feeling they really mean Spinoza's God (like Einstein), but this use of 'God' causes confusion for a lot of readers. Some readers might think they are referring to the God of the Bible or Koran.
Spinoza's God couldn't have a book of anything.
Then again, the Abrahamic God (being omniscient) wouldn't need a book either, but would simply know the perfect proof (and every imperfect proof) for every theorem.
Re: In Search of Proofs from “The Book”
#7As a working mathematician, I'm uncomfortable with this apotheosis of 'the proof'. While there's always room for aesthetics, this might support the rather misleading premise that mathematics is about digging up chiseled beauties, when it is really about hours, days and months of flailing around, trying to understand one thing, or even what it means to understand that thing. And it's rarely pretty.
Re: In Search of Proofs from “The Book”
#8> It’s a powerful feeling. I remember these moments of beauty and excitement. And there’s a very powerful type of happiness that comes from it.
I always try to explain to people this is the reason I love math so much. There is no feeling like getting to the bottom of something and it makes sense in such a perfect way, you can hardly believe the universe works like that. I am no believer but I think it's the closest I can feel to God.
Re: In Search of Proofs from “The Book”
#9As a working mathematician, I'm uncomfortable with this apotheosis of 'the proof'. While there's always room for aesthetics, this might support the rather misleading premise that mathematics is about digging up chiseled beauties, when it is really about hours, days and months of flailing around, trying to understand one thing, or even what it means to understand that thing. And it's rarely pretty.
I think Davis and Hersh say this. Ruben Hersh "what is mathematics really" felt like it was opening the door to the sausage factory.
Re: In Search of Proofs from “The Book”
#10> It’s a powerful feeling. I remember these moments of beauty and excitement. And there’s a very powerful type of happiness that comes from it. I always try to explain to people this is the reason I love math so much. There is no feeling like getting to the bottom of something and it makes sense in such a perfect way, you can hardly believe the universe works like that. I am no believer but I think it's the closest I…
> I am no believer but I think it's the closest I can feel to God.
It's a shared sentiment:
"Mathematics is the language with which God wrote the universe." -- Galileo