Descartes' Dream: The World According to Mathematics [Paperback]

Philip J. Davis (Author), Reuben Hersh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 1987 | ISBN-10: 0395431549 | ISBN-13: 978-0395431542

These provocative essays take a modern look at the 17th-century thinker's dream, examining the influences of mathematics on society, particularly in light of technological advances. They survey the conditions that elicit the application of mathematic principles; the applications' effectiveness; and how applied mathematics transform perceptions of reality. 1987 edition.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Different in approach from the authors' well received The Mathematical Experience , which concentrated on developing a philosophy of mathematics, this eclectic collection of essays examines the application of mathematics to nature and human activities. Applied mathematics has become all-pervasive during the past 100 years as business, technology, and mathematics have combined to generate the computer age and the information society. In episodic fashion, Davis and Hersh present a lively narrative on the background and history of automation technology and its resultant social changes, and they evaluate the effectiveness, benefits, and even dangers of the "mathematization of the world." Fascinating and unique reading, though some of the essays are rather technical for the nonspecialist. Still, highly recommended. Robert Paustian, Wilkes Coll. Lib., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 321 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (September 21, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395431549
• ISBN-13: 978-0395431542
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,916,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting , but doesn't add up to a unified whole, February 25, 2006

By 

John Bostock (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Descartes' Dream: The World According to Mathematics (Paperback)

THIS IS A well-intentioned but hardly satisfying book. From various angles it shows the increasing mathematization of our lives - but more importantly it questions the wisdom of placing our faith in this type of orderly, rationalized world.

We have become more mathematically inclined than you probably realize. It has become a given that those fields having a solid mathematical underpinning (e.g. physics and chemistry) have more validity than those that don't (e.g. psychology and sociology). The implications of this belief stretch far and wide. Mathematics has now reached into everything from biology, medicine, astrophysics, and economics to linguistics, musical composition, choreography, and art. The more math a field employs, it is believed, the more valid it must be.

The belief that guides much of modern society is that anything in the physical world can become the subject of a mathematical theory. This was French philosopher Rene Descartes' dream. In 1637 he published his revolutionary "Discourse on Method" which was a methodology for science based on the deductive logic of mathematical reasoning. This meant that since one plus one equals two, and this is a truth that cannot be challenged, then anything that can be put into a mathematical framework would also be true. This view also leads to the belief (as it did for Descartes) that animals - and perhaps humans - are merely complex machines; after all, life itself exists in the physical world.

But where does one draw the line? Certainly some things must be kept outside of the mathematical/computerized realm. Hopefully, emotions, attitudes, literature and the like will never make a successful transition into a computer program.

The authors attempt to create a "heightened awareness of the relationship between humans and the mathematics they have created!" An awareness, they say, "is necessary to shield us from the effects of the revolutionary waves of symbols that are about to wash over us."

However, the approach the authors take in developing this idea is less than satisfying. It pokes and jabs at various aspects of our math-inflicted society but the ideas do not always flow easily into the central theme. This is due to the book's construction, a loosely compiled collection of articles, addresses and taped interviews. Indeed, the authors suggest that readers should "browse at random and read whatever catches their fancy." At 306 pages, it's a good idea; but the result of this, however, is a book that has many interesting parts that often do not add up to any sort of unified whole.

Some of the essays lure you in with an interesting premise but then drown you in page after page of difficult math. By the time you've gotten to the end of the essay you've really forgotten what the point was or where it fits in with the rest of the book.

The message of this volume - that we "are being mathematized at an increasing rate ... and it may not be good for us" - is one that more people should hear.

4.0 out of 5 stars Not What You May Expect, June 15, 2011

By 

Kim Schuelke - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Descartes' Dream: The World According to Mathematics (Dover Science Books) (Paperback)

Davis and Hersh write interesting, accessible overviews of pertinent social-mathematical topics and provide a respectable bibliography of reference materials. Topics covered include meta thinking, meaning of computation, and mathematical abstraction. If you are looking for information about Descartes, however, as I was, you will find very little of that in this volume.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interview with Charles M. Strauss, August 8, 2006

By 

Howard J. Covitz "hc_computer_books" (Pascoag, RI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Descartes' Dream: The World According to Mathematics (Dover Science Books) (Paperback)

My favorite part of this book was the interview with CS. As a programmer, it was gratifying to read such a sensible articulation of the profession.