Wow, from Plato to Polya, this venerable work looks very very much like it is worth reading, taking notes, and reading again just for the pleasure of it, once I actually have time to enjoy all of the citations (like the Myth of Euclid?! and Chinese mathematics!! -cool!!!).
I so enjoy the study of teaching mathematics, pity I don't enjoy the students nearly as much, the vast majority of the time (ok, nearly all of the time, but I do enjoy planning my lessons!).

And let us not forget Pacioli, of double-entry book keeping fame, no? ( )

Wow, from Plato to Polya, this venerable work looks very very much like it is worth reading, taking notes, and reading again just for the pleasure of it, once I actually have time to enjoy all of the citations (like the Myth of Euclid?! and Chinese mathematics!! -cool!!!).
I so enjoy the study of teaching mathematics, pity I don't enjoy the students nearly as much, the vast majority of the time (ok, nearly all of the time, but I do enjoy planning my lessons!).

And let us not forget Pacioli, of double-entry book keeping fame, no? ( )

Indeholder "Preface", "Acknowledgments", "Introduction", "Overture", "1. The Mathematical Landscape", " What is Mathematics?", " Where is Mathematics?", " The Mathematical Community", " The Tools of the Trade", " How Much Mathematics is Now Known?", " Ulam's Dilemma", " How Much Mathematics Can There Be?", " Appendix A - Brief Chronological Table to 1910", " Appendix B - The Classification of Mathematics. 1868 and 1979 Compared ", "2. Varieties of Mathematical Experience", " The Current Individual and Collective Consciousness", " The Ideal Mathematician", " A Physicist Looks at Mathematics", " I.R. Shafarevitch and the New Neoplatonism", " Unorthodoxies", " The Individual and the Culture ", "3. Outer Issues", " Why Mathematics Works: A Conventionalist Answer", " Mathematical Models", " Utility", " 1. Varieties of Mathematical Uses", " 2. On the Utility of Mathematics to Mathematics", " 3. On the Utility of Mathematics to Other Scientific or Technological Fields", " 4. Pure vs. Applied Mathematics", " 5. From Hardyism to Mathematical Maoism ", " Underneath the Fig Leaf", " 1. Mathematics in the Marketplace", " 2. Mathematics and War", " 3. Number Mysticism", " 4. Hermetic Geometry", " 5. Astrology", " 6. Religion ", " Abstraction and Scholastic Theology ", "4. Inner Issues", " Symbols", " Abstraction", " Generalization", " Formalization", " Mathematical Objects and Structures; Existence", " Proof", " Infinity, or the Miraculous Jar of Mathematics", " The Stretched String", " The Coin of Tyche", " The Aesthetic Component", " Pattern, Order, and Chaos", " Algorithmic vs. Dialectic Mathematics", " The Drive to Generality and Abstraction", " The Chinese Remainder Theorem: A Case Study", " Mathematics as Enigma", " Unity within Diversity ", "5. Selected Topics in Mathematics", " Group Theory and the Classification of Finite Simple Groups", " The Prime Number Theorem", " Non-Euclidean Geometry", " Non-Cantorian Set Theory", " Appendix A", " Nonstandard Analysis", " Fourier Analysis ", "6. Teaching and Learning", " Confessions of a Prep School Math Teacher", " The Classic Classroom Crisis of Understanding and Pedagogy", " Polya's Craft of Discovery", " The Creation of New Mathematics: An Application of the Lakatos Heuristic", " Comparative Aesthetics", " Nonanalytic Aspects of Mathematics ", "7. From Certainty to Fallibility", " Platonism, Formalism, Constructivism", " The Philosophical Plight of the Working Mathematician", " The Euclid Myth", " Foundations, Found and Lost", " The Formalist Philosophy of Mathematics", " Lakatos and the Philosophy of Dubitability ", "8. Mathematical Reality", " The Riemann Hypothesis", " Pi and Pi Hat", " Mathematical Models, Computers, and Platonism", " Why Should I Believe a Computer?", " Classification of Finite Simple Groups", " Intuition", " Four-Dimensional Intuition", " True Facts About Imaginary Objects ", "Glossary", "Bibliography", "Index".

Glimrende bog. ( )

This is the portuguese translation of The Mathematical Experience. An interesting attempt to convey the nature and importance of Mathematics to the lay reader, the text digresses through a variety of topics in a clear and, at times, inspired prose. It is not a mathematical text though, and apart from Chapter 5 and some examples spread through Chapters 4 and 6, not much mathematical culture is required from the reader, although someone lacking a mathematical education at the level of the first two years at the University will probably miss the better parts of the arguments and is likely not to make much sense of the rest. In spite of some odd choices (such as the emphasis in the example of Non-standard Analysis, a clearly marginal subject in present day mathematics) this is a book worth reading that tries to portrait the mathematical activity as part of the large human effort to understand and make sense of ourselves and the world. ( )

A truly enjoyable read. The author tries to focus on the "experience" of mathematics. However, the depth and breath of the topic makes this an unsurmountable task. To that end, a user looking for an indepth "mathematical experience" is better of reading biographies on various other mathematicians. That being said, this is a perfect weekend read. The topics are lucidly explained. The die cut illustrations are brilliant and in of themselves could be the sole reason for possesing this book. ( )