Math: The Loss of Certainty

Author: M. Klein
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-07-01
Features: Science, especially natural science, one of the most important goals is to pursue the driving force of science itself, or to pursue its impetus. At the same time, this spirit of pursuit in science itself has become a basic impetus for social development and human progress. Science always seeks to discover and understand new phenomena of the objective world, and to study and master new laws, always persistently pursuing truth. Science is serious, rigorous, and realistic, while at the same time, it is creative. One of the basic attitudes of science is doubt, and one of the basic spirits of science is criticism. Indeed, science is active, especially the activity of natural science, and compared to other human activities, its basic characteristic is continuous progress. Even when retreating in other aspects, science always advances, even if it is slow and difficult progress. This shows that the activity of natural science contains the element of human progress. The vast majority of educated people today still believe that mathematics is an unshakable knowledge system about the material world, and mathematical reasoning is infallible. This book refutes this myth. M. Klein points out that today, the universally accepted concept of mathematics no longer exists, in fact, there are many mutually contradictory mathematical concepts. However, the effectiveness of mathematics in describing and studying natural and social phenomena continues to expand. Why? "Great readability, outstanding personal achievement—he must tell compelling stories, and he tells them very well." The entire book explores the rise and fall of the dignity of mathematics at a non-professional level, detailing the origin of mathematical truth, the prosperity of mathematical truth, the mathematicalization of science, and where mathematics is heading.