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A Mathematician's Apology (Canto)
A Mathematician's Apology - Canto
Author: G. H. Hardy
G. H. Hardy was one of this century's finest mathematical thinkers, renowned among his contemporaries as a 'real mathematician ... the purest of the pure'. He was also, as C. P. Snow recounts in his Foreword, 'unorthodox, eccentric, radical, ready to talk about anything'. This 'apology', written in 1940 as his mathematical powers were declining,...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780521427067
ISBN-10: 0521427061
Publication Date: 1/31/1992
Pages: 153
Rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 2

4 stars, based on 2 ratings
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Book Type: Paperback
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Top Member Book Reviews

garythefowler avatar reviewed A Mathematician's Apology (Canto) on + 65 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Great fun, and a classic in several categories.
Need we say? Hardy does not apologize, in the sense in which we commonly use the word, for being a mathematician; but rather, in the tradition of Socrates' "Apologia," he explains and defends the existence of mathematics and his lifelong work in it.
Believe it or not, it is an entertaining read. He writes a bit like a philosopher, casual but not high-brow, with humor and humility. There is very little math vocabulary to worry about, and the few proofs he offers can be skipped without seriously breaking the flow of his wanderings. Expect a few chuckles and a couple of "aha's."
An included bonus: a good introductory foreward by C. P. Snow.
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