A Revolution in Mathematics? What Really Happened a Century Ago and Why It Matters Today

The physical sciences all went through ‘‘revolutions”: wrenching transitions in which methods changed radically and became much more powerful. It is not widely realized, but there was a similar transition in mathematics between about 1890 and 1930. The first section briefly describes the changes tha...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Best Writing on Mathematics 2013 Vol. 4; pp. 175 - 190
Main Author Quinn, Frank
Format Book Chapter
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Princeton University Press 19.01.2014
Subjects
Applied sciences
Approximation
Axioms
Behavioral sciences
Business
Business administration
Cognitive psychology
Corporate governance
Curricula
Education
Engineering
Formal education
Intuition
Mathematical expressions
Mathematical problems
Mathematical procedures
MATHEMATICS
Mathematics curricula
Mathematics education
Modern mathematics
Pedagogy
Popular science
Proxy fights
Proxy reporting
Proxy statements
Psychology
Research methods
Science education
Survey research
Survey responses
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:The physical sciences all went through ‘‘revolutions”: wrenching transitions in which methods changed radically and became much more powerful. It is not widely realized, but there was a similar transition in mathematics between about 1890 and 1930. The first section briefly describes the changes that took place and why they qualify as a “revolution,” and the second section describes turmoil and resistance to the changes at the time. The mathematical event was different from those in science, however. In science, most of the older material was wrong and discarded, whereas old mathematics needed precision upgrades but was mostly correct. The
ISBN:9780691160412
0691160414
DOI:10.1515/9781400847990-019