Customer Reviews

Mathematics & Common Sense: A Case of Creative Tension

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Professor Davis provides 33 short essays covering the tension between commonsense and the often counterintuitive discoveries of mathematics. I particularly enjoyed his discussions of why counting large numbers is impossible (with interesting implications for elections), the sorites paradox (e.g. how many grains of wheat do you have to have before you have a heap of wheat?), and the virtues of inconsistency. There is also lots of good material here on meta-mathematical issues such as what constitutes reasons, proofs, and solutions.

Davis's clear writing and sense of humor, known to those familiar with his popular books "Thomas Gray: Philosopher Cat" and "The Thread," comes through in these more technical essays as well. My only quibbles with the book are that it would have benefited from a good proof-reading and it confuses Professor James Moriarty, the arch-villain of Sherlock Holmes, with his brother Colonel James Moriarty. Don't let this minor mistake cause you to miss this fine book!