<![CDATA[A Mathematician's Apology]]>

false <![CDATA[A Mathematician's Apology]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172254355m/154060.jpg 154060 4 A Mathematician's Apology is a profoundly sad book, the memoir of a man who has reached the end of his ambition, who can no longer effectively practice the art that has consumed him since he was a boy. But at the same time, it is a joyful celebration of the subject--and a stern lecture to those who would sully it by dilettantism or attempts to make it merely useful. "The mathematician's patterns," G.H. Hardy declares, "like the painter's or the poet's, must be beautiful; the ideas, like the colours or the words, must fit together in a harmonious way. Beauty is the first test: there is no permanent place in the world for ugly mathematics." Hardy was, in his own words, "for a short time the fifth best pure mathematician in the world" and knew full well that "no mathematician should ever allow himself to forget that mathematics, more than any other art or science, is a young man's game." In a long biographical foreword to Apology, C.P. Snow (now best known for The Two Cultures) offers invaluable background and a context for his friend's occasionally brusque tone: "His life remained the life of a brilliant young man until he was old; so did his spirit: his games, his interests, kept the lightness of a young don's. And, like many men who keep a young man's interests into their sixties, his last years were the darker for it." Reading Snow's recollections of Hardy's Cambridge University years only makes Apology more poignant. Hardy was popular, a terrific conversationalist, and a notoriously good cricket player. <blockquote> When summer came, it was taken for granted that we should meet at the cricket ground.... He used to walk round the cinderpath with a long, loping, clumping-footed stride (he was a slight spare man, physically active even in his late fifties, still playing real tennis), head down, hair, tie, sweaters, papers all flowing, a figure that caught everyone's eyes. "There goes a Greek poet, I'll be bound," once said some cheerful farmer as Hardy passed the score-board. </blockquote> G.H. Hardy's elegant 1940 memoir has provided generations of mathematicians with pithy quotes and examples for their office walls, and plenty of inspiration to either be great or find something else to do. He is a worthy mentor, a man who understood deeply and profoundly the rewards and losses of true devotion. --Therese Littleton 1486751 1940 A Mathematician's Apology total:156|5:55|4:60|3:29|2:11|1:1| 156 625 282 22 3 0 false false Thu Jul 16 17:30:18 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 16 17:37:55 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Sep 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 12:04:46 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 12:07:37 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Mar 08 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Jun 28 10:36:16 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 28 10:47:47 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Mar 09 19:31:38 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 10 20:30:59 -0700 2008 p...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jan 05 10:30:53 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 05 13:09:50 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Oct 14 10:49:07 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 10:52:26 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sun Jun 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 27 02:27:02 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 06:31:01 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 18 09:16:17 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 18 09:23:14 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2002 Tue Oct 27 22:51:15 -0700 2009 Thu Nov 19 15:57:17 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Dec 19 19:30:16 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 19:31:29 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Sun May 24 12:31:04 -0700 2009 Sun May 24 12:32:24 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2000 Tue Dec 25 17:32:50 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 25 17:39:11 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Apr 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Nov 09 15:23:30 -0800 2008 Wed Apr 15 04:51:33 -0700 2009 A Mathematician's Apology is a small volume that explores some big ideas. At heart, it is a poignant look at the creative demands of the mathematical profession by a Cambridge don who is past his prime. The ideas reflect a brillant yet shy mind. The not-to-be-missed highlight is the Foreward by C....more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat May 17 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 14 10:36:43 -0700 2008 Sat May 17 10:01:30 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jul 01 22:19:57 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 01 22:19:57 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Sat Jul 19 04:12:46 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 19 04:21:07 -0700 2008
I wonder, though, DO people who are not mathematically inclined see beauty in things like Euclid's proof of infinitely many primes or Pythagoras's proof of the irrationality of the square root of 2? ]]> 4 0 false false Mon Sep 29 21:36:10 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 29 21:37:12 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Tue Jul 29 13:53:18 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 29 13:54:07 -0700 2008 Science Careers Blog.]]> 0 0 false false Fri Aug 10 05:14:47 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 10 05:18:20 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Sun Mar 30 14:46:34 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 30 14:47:32 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=154060