Cambridge University Press eBooks· 2012· Book chapter
A Mathematician's Apology
- 135citations
- 2012year
Short summary
This 1940 'apology' by G. H. Hardy offers a unique, personal account of mathematics as a creative art, distinct from science.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- G. H. Hardy, a leading mathematician, wrote 'A Mathematician's Apology' in 1940.
- The book frames mathematics as a creative art, distinct from science.
- It includes personal reflections on Hardy's life, collaborations (e.g., Ramanujan), and passions (e.g., cricket).
- C. P. Snow provides a Foreword with insights into Hardy's personality and life.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
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, offers a brilliant and engaging account of mathematics as very much more than a science; when it was first published, Graham Greene hailed it alongside Henry James's notebooks as 'the best account of what it was like to be a creative artist'. C. P. Snow's Foreword gives sympathetic and witty insights into Hardy's life, with its rich store of anecdotes concerning his collaboration with the brilliant Indian mathematician Ramanujan, his idiosyncrasies and his passion for cricket. This is a unique account of the fascination of mathematics and of one of its most compelling exponents in modern times.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Cambridge University Press eBooks, 2012 · DOI ↗
Continue with a free account
Ask the paper: 3 free questions a day about this paper; save it, get its citation, new summaries every day for your field. Takeaways are Premium.
Continue free on the webSign in with Google or Apple; no card needed. You come back to this paper.
On your phone:
Field: Theoretical Computer Science
Theoretical Computer ScienceMathematics