Mathematics · History & Philosophy of Mathematics
A topic within History & Philosophy of Mathematics, itself one of 10 topics in that field and part of Mathematics.
2 works
Henri Poincare
Argues that mathematical discovery is driven by an unconscious aesthetic sense for which combinations of ideas are fruitful, against the view that proof is generated by mechanical logical deduction alone.
link checked 17 Sept 2026G.H. Hardy
Defends pure mathematics done for its own beauty rather than its use, arguing a mathematician's work is judged by seriousness and depth in the same way a poem or painting is, not by application.
56 pageslink checked 17 Sept 2026