[FOM] The Ideal Mathematician

[Samuel E. Moelius III]

One could easily get the wrong impression by reading just the excerpt in 
the cited URL.  I suggest that any discussion surrounding this essay 
should take into account the self-effacing nature of (at least) the 
following paragraph.

   The foregoing sketches are not meant to be malicious; indeed, they
   would apply to the present authors. But it is a too obvious and there-
   fore easily forgotten fact that mathematical work, which, no doubt as
   a result of long familiarity, the mathematician takes for granted, is a
   mysterious, almost inexplicable phenomenon from the point of view of
   the outsider. In this case, the outsider could be a layman, a fellow
   academic, or even a scientist who uses mathematics in his own work.

Sam

On 01/09/2014 04:32 PM, Charlie wrote:
> 	
> 	  I would be very interested in FOMers' reactions to a short essay by Phillip J. David and Reuben Hersh entitled "The Ideal Mathematician".   I have been able to find the article in its entirety in a .pdf file accessible on the web, but pdfs are not permissible in this forum.  Below is a URL, which contains about half the essay, which in its entirety is 8 pages long, taken from their book _The Mathematical Experience_.)  To read the rest of the article, look for a pdf of it.
>
> http://forum.wbfree.net/forums/showthread.php?t=29870
>
> 	  Thanks.
>
> Charlie Silver
>
>
>
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