Bonnie Gold

A collection of essays by mathematicians (Ms) and philosophers of math (PMs) on proof and how it is changing, social constructivist views of math, the nature of math objects and math knowledge, and the nature of math and its applications. Lots of argument over issues like platonism (which I personally think might be analogous to the notion of free will -- useful even if it turns out to be misconceived). I tended to enjoy the Ms' contributions more than the PMs', especially Auslander on the roles of proof, Hersh on mathematical practice as a scientific problem, and Devlin on what will count as mathematics in 2100; agreeable on the PMs' side were Shapiro on mathematical objects and Hájek on the philosophy of probability.… (lisätietoja)