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The Mathematical Experience Reprint Edition

by Phillip J. Davis (Author),
Reuben Hersh (Author)
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Reuben Hersh (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars 27 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0395929681
ISBN-10: 0395929687
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 464 pages
  • Publisher: Mariner Books; Reprint edition (January 14, 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0395929687
  • ISBN-13: 978-0395929681
  • Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #493,862 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsA survey on exactly that.
By Yoon Ha Lee on January 22, 2000
Format: Hardcover
Along with Ivars Peterson's books on math, I suppose this has changed my life, too.
I was going to study history. Math? Who cared about math? Math was for those science-types. I had an image of mathematicians as bespectacled, socially-inept, hunch-shouldered gnomes who lived in universities and ventured out of their burrows for--well, maybe they didn't venture out at all.
The joke's on me. I'm a math major now. This book is one of the reasons.
I've always loved history: the march of events, the ebb and flow of cause and effect and unexpected accident. I didn't realize that math, too, had a history, an ebb and flow. If I'd ever thought about it, I would have realized that an angel didn't come down from the heavens bearing The Big Book of Math, complete with proofs. But that's what it seemed like, until I read about the almost architectural building of theorem upon theorem, idea upon idea. Math wasn't a Big Book; it evolved and grew. Grows still, I should say.
Did numbers exist? Well, of course they existed. Wait a second. What *is* a number anyway? How *does* one exist? Would they exist if there were no people?
And so I learned that math, too, has its philosophies.
Most of all, I learned that mathematicians were and are people, not gnomes in burrows who have nothing to do with the rest of the world. That math is important for more than the homework assignments that plagued my high school evening hours. That math is worth studying.
If you could convey this to heaven knows how many disgruntled and frustrated math students around the world, I wonder if they might like the subject better.
I sure did.
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5.0 out of 5 starsOne of the best books about math.
By Shard on December 1, 2000
Format: Paperback
Some books are of such depth that it is impossible to completely digest all that they contain even after multiple re-readings. Many achieve this through their level of technicality, or through sheer obscurity. The true gems are those that achieve it through clear intelligible discussion of deep concepts. Books like this point outside of themselves, leading one to whole new conceptual worlds. They force new connections to be made in the reader's brain. I reserve my highest recommendation for books of this type, and "The Mathematical Experience" is certainly one of them.
Popular books such as Ivars Peterson's "Mathematical Mystery Tour" and Keith Devlin's "Mathematics: The Science of Patterns" excel at giving the non-mathematician a glimpse into the world of modern mathematics, and an appreciation of the beauty and interest found therein. Depending on the level of sophistication of the reader, some popular math books are more appealing than others, in as much as they convey more or less actual mathematical knowledge. However I would venture to guess that these works hold little interest for real mathematicians, being much too shallow in their description of modern problems, even outside the specialized field of the reader.
Davis and Hersch on the other hand should strike a chord with most practicing professionals, as well as with the lay audience. As the authors state in the introduction, the layman reader may at times "feel like a guest who has been invited to a family dinner. After polite general conversation, the family turns to narrow family concerns, its delights and its worries, and the guest is left up in the air, but fascinated.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsPhilosophy, History and Myths of Mathematics
By Jim Morrison on November 20, 2003
Format: Paperback
The Mathematical Experience by Philip J. Davis and Reuben Hersh
1981 Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston
Is all of pure mathematics a meaningless game? What are the contradictions that upset the very foundations of mathematics? If a can of tuna cost $1.05 how much does two cans of tuna cost (Pg. 71)? If you think you know the answer, don't be so sure. How old are the oldest mathematical tables? What is mathematics anyway, and why does it work? Can anyone prove that 1 + 1 = 2?
This is a book about the history and philosophy of mathematics. I'm certainly not a mathematician, and there are parts of the book I will never understand, yet the balance of it made the experience well worth while. The authors presented the material so that it is interesting and (mostly) easily understood. They have a creative way of making a difficult subject exciting. They do this by giving us insights into how mathematicians work and create. They live up to the title making mathematics a human experience by adding fascinating history. Frankly I was shocked when they pointing out how even mathematicians have made questionable assumptions and taken some basic "truths" on faith. They show the beauty of math in the "Aesthetic Component" chapter. Ultimately the question that comes up again and again is the question of whether or not we can really know anything about time and space independent of our own experience to make an adequate foundation for a complete system in mathematics. If you have ever wondered about the world of mathematics and the personalities involved you might consider this book. If you are a mathematics teacher you should read this book. If you are a mathematician you could find it quite unsettling.
It contains eight chapters, each one broken up into many subtitles so if you do get bogged down in the mathematics it isn't for long. There are 440 pages. I'd like to see a much more complete glossary for people like me who need it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsloved the

needed for college.....loved the book

Published 18 months ago by Donald Butchkoski
5.0 out of 5 starsRead the chapter "The Ideal Mathematician"

This book is now fairly old, but overall it has aged well. This is written at an intermediate level--meaning too difficult for some novices and too simple for some mathematicians,... Read more

Published 23 months ago by mdromney
3.0 out of 5 starsThree Stars

Good!

Published on October 9, 2014 by Tina
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

:)

Published on September 29, 2014 by carla
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

The perfect book

Published on August 29, 2014 by anthonyl
5.0 out of 5 starsCan be read on multiple levels

This is ultimately a book on the philosophy of mathematics. Rather than a tedious and dry slog though, the authors use a very broad array of mathematical vignettes - often only a... Read more

Published on June 1, 2014 by T. Gwinn
5.0 out of 5 starsThe Mathematical Experience

This book was recommended to me by my boyfriend. I teach high school math, so it seems like an ideal book for me. Read more

Published on January 30, 2014 by Amy
5.0 out of 5 starsA rewarding experience

This is a book I read through and return to again and again. It is truly illuminating about mathematics and the philosophy of mathematics (at least for this chemist).

Published on June 12, 2013 by Russell
3.0 out of 5 starsMy experience

Fine, but I though it was more amuse to read, in other words it is not a book to learn maths, it is just to know different aspects of this matter

Published on January 10, 2013 by Luis E. Becerra Ravaschio
5.0 out of 5 starsA beatiful divulgative mathematics book

A very inytoduction to mathematics field,easy and interesting to read for anybody who likes to know the relations of mathematics with his history,developments,and other related... Read more

Published on May 19, 2011 by Juan A Gosalvez

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