What is Mathematics, Really? by Reuben Hersh
This book tackles the important questions which have engaged mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers for thousands of years and which are still being asked today. It does so with clarity and with scholarship born of first-hand experience; a knowledge both of the ideas and of the people who have pronounced on them. The main purpose of the book is to confront philosophical problems: In what sense do mathematical objects exist? How can we have knowledge of them? Why do mathematicians think mathematical entities exist for ever, independent of human action and knowledge? The book proposes an unconventional answer: mathematics has existence or reality only as part of human culture. Despite its seeming timelessness and infallibility, it is a social, cultural, historic phenomenon.
Reuben Hersh is Professor Emeritus at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. He is a winner of the Chauvenet Prize and the Ford Prize. He is the author (with Philip J. Davis) of The Mathematical Experience and Descarte's Dream. The Mathematical Experience won a National Book Award.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780224044172 |
| ISBN 10 | 0224044176 |
| Title | What is Mathematics, Really? |
| Author | Reuben Hersh |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Vintage Publishing |
| Year published | 1997-09-04 |
| Number of pages | 384 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |