What Is Mathematics?

R·柯朗（Richard Courant）是20世纪杰出的数学家，哥廷根学派重要成员。他生前是纽约大学数学系和数学科学研究院的主任，该研究院后被重命名为柯朗数学科学研究院。他写的书《数学物理方程》为每一个物理学家所熟知；而他的《微积分学》已被认为是近代写得最好的该学科的代表作。H·罗宾（Herbert Robbins）是新泽西拉特杰斯大学的数理统计教授。I·斯图尔特（Ian Stewart）是沃里克大学的数学教授，并且是《自然界中的数和上帝玩色子游戏吗》一书的作者；他还在《科学美国人》杂志上主编《数学娱乐》专栏；他因使科学为大众理解的杰出贡献而在1995年获得了皇家协会的米凯勒法拉第奖章。

出版者:Oxford University Press

作者:Richard Courant

页数:592

出版时间:1996-7-18

价格:GBP 11.99

装帧:Paperback

isbn号码:9780195105193

图书标签:数学Mathematics科普思维英文原版Math方法论英文

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For more than two thousand years a familiarity with mathematics has been regarded as an indispensable part of the intellectual equipment of every cultured person. Today, unfortunately, the traditional place of mathematics in education is in grave danger. The teaching and learning of mathematics has degenerated into the realm of rote memorization, the outcome of which leads to satisfactory formal ability but does not lead to real understanding or to greater intellectual independence. This new edition of Richard Courant's and Herbert Robbins's classic work seeks to address this problem. Its goal is to put the meaning back into mathematics. Written for beginners and scholars, for students and teachers, for philosophers and engineers, What is Mathematics?, Second Edition is a sparkling collection of mathematical gems that offers an entertaining and accessible portrait of the mathematical world. Covering everything from natural numbers and the number system to geometrical constructions and projective geometry, from topology and calculus to matters of principle and the Continuum Hypothesis, this fascinating survey allows readers to delve into mathematics as an organic whole rather than an empty drill in problem solving. With chapters largely independent of one another and sections that lead upward from basic to more advanced discussions, readers can easily pick and choose areas of particular interest without impairing their understanding of subsequent parts. Brought up to date with a new chapter by Ian Stewart, What is Mathematics?, Second Edition offers new insights into recent mathematical developments and describes proofs of the Four-Color Theorem and Fermat's Last Theorem, problems that were still open when Courant and Robbins wrote this masterpiece, but ones that have since been solved. Formal mathematics is like spelling and grammar--a matter of the correct application of local rules. Meaningful mathematics is like journalism--it tells an interesting story. But unlike some journalism, the story has to be true. The best mathematics is like literature--it brings a story to life before your eyes and involves you in it, intellectually and emotionally. What is Mathematics is like a fine piece of literature--it opens a window onto the world of mathematics for anyone interested to view.

读后感

昨晚看了一个小时，从11页看到12页，没看懂，睡觉了。梦里出现的全是数目字，早晨睁开眼忽然想通了。。。 这就是一个数盲的数学之旅～～～ 坐在那吭哧吭哧地排12进制乘法表，忍不住在心里高呼：啊，相比起懂得数学的人，我看到的世界是多么狭窄和死板啊！！！ 希望能一直把...  

这本书大概是我不可能看完的一本书了，所以还是现在写书评吧。 我是经济学的本硕，数学相当一般，考研的时候曾经温习过，后来就求求最值、用用最小二乘法、T分布、正态分布数值特征什么的了。其他的很少用，也很少涉及。 重新温习是因为看衍生品定价的时候，确实感觉非常困难...  

我花了两天时间把这本书大致看完了，不过习题没有做。我觉得这本书比较适合两类人： 一是上完高一要升高二的理科生，并且比较喜欢数学的。这时可能会有一定的困难，因为这本书要求你读很多课外知识才会更好的理解，但是我们的教育体制并不很提倡学生读课外读物...  

http://books.google.com/books?id=_kYBqLc5QoQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=What+is+Mathematics&ei=8ZtTSL7bHp_otQODrsTNCw&sig=k7DQzxSHVRMP02ZCYTU-NrhuB8E 大家试试。  

《什么是数学》算是经典数学读物了，最近看了一下，真的是不错，写的很好，翻译的也不错。内容上由浅入深的介绍数学问题和解法，有些东西还真是我以前从来没有看过的，比如我们小时候就知道如何判断一个整数能否被3整除，但很少想为什么这个准则奏效，这本书里面用同余的方法证...  

用户评价

从数论，到射影几何、非欧几何，到拓扑学的心里路程依次是：“啊这个竞赛学过，好怀念”，“数学好有趣，好厉害，教练我要学数学！”，“等等，这是什么鬼，为什么我什么都看不懂”，“呵呵，我觉得我还是比较适合上文科”。。

再次读了一二六八章，带着比几年前更强烈的好奇，希望把自己对数学的机械理解统统推倒重建。我对微积分和infinity着迷，因为我相信眼前transient的万物都是一种illusion。我想借助数学去去重新理解space-time，进一步敞开无尽的想象去理解眼前的世界是——它积分的结果，要探清它的面目需对其微分再微分。借助infinity的思考方式，重新理解了无理数，极限，连续，微分、积分、自然对数缘所从来，处处都是哲学之美，上帝创世的永恒旋律????

我爱学数学！！！

断断续续浏览了2个多月，主要目的是回顾一下学过的数学和学习数学语言的英文表达。经典数学科普之作，选材经典，解说经典，很有一点数学史的感觉。

i love mathematics