Related papers: To found or not to found: that is the question
From 1873 to 1897, Georg Cantor worked on developing set theory, and despite a strong initial resistance, it rapidly became accepted as the foundation of mathematics. In this work, however, we'll demonstrate that Cantor's use of infinity is…
This book invites readers to see mathematics not just as formulas and rules, but as the deepest expression of human thought. It begins by exploring the timeless idea of mathematics as a universal language, contrasting its precision with the…
We re-evaluate the great Leibniz-Newton calculus debate, exactly three hundred years after it culminated, in 1712. We reflect upon the concept of invention, and to what extent there were indeed two independent inventors of this new…
Math is widely considered as a powerful tool and its strong appeal depends on the high level of abstraction it allows in modelling a huge number of heterogeneous phenomena and problems, spanning from the static of buildings to the flight of…
In the early twentieth century, L.E.J. Brouwer pioneered a new philosophy of mathematics, called intuitionism. Intuitionism was revolutionary in many respects but stands out -mathematically speaking- for its challenge of Hilbert's formalist…
Being mathematics a natural language to Mankind and to physics, it must be constantly adapted to our necessities and our natural perception. Then, mathematical concepts are not absolute to reality. Although mathematical theories are…
Mathematics cannot anymore be assimilated to a linguistic game, where formal proofs are strongly differentiated with conjectural thinking, without building any category of knowledge to understand the passage (Wittgenstein's gist). Nowadays,…
There is a problem with the foundations of classical mathematics, and potentially even with the foundations of computer science, that mathematicians have by-and-large ignored. This essay is a call for practicing mathematicians who have been…
The representation of mathematical objects in terms of (more) basic ones is part and parcel of (the foundations of) mathematics. In the usual foundations of mathematics, i.e. $\textsf{ZFC}$ set theory, all mathematical objects are…
The world of mathematics is often considered abstract, with its symbols, concepts, and topics appearing unrelated to physical objects. However, it is important to recognize that the development of mathematics is fundamentally influenced by…
The mathematical analysis was conceived in XVII century in Newton and Leibniz works. The problem of logical rigor in definitions was considered by Arnauld and Nicole in "Logique ou l'art de penser". They were the first, who distinguished…
Between 1941 and 1962, scalar-tensor theories of gravitation were suggested four times by different scientists in four different countries. The earliest originator, the Swiss mathematician W. Scherrer, was virtually unknown until now…
The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the role of language in the process of teaching and learning mathematics. We will begin with the definition of mathematics given by Cassiodorus (in its essential features repeated in Kolmogorov's…
Geometry and Diophantine equations have been ever-present in mathematics. Diophantus of Alexandria was born in the 3rd century (as far as we know), but a systematic mathematical study of word equations began only in the 20th century. So,…
The unique and beautiful character of certain mathematical results and proofs is often considered one of the most gratifying aspects of engaging with mathematics. We study whether this perception of mathematical arguments having an…
We consider the mathematical theory of geographical maps, with an emphasis on the eighteenth century works of Euler, Lagrange and Delisle. This period is characterized by the frequent use of maps that are no more obtained by the…
The first seeds of mathematical intuitionism germinated in Europe over a century ago in the constructive tendencies of Borel, Baire, Lebesque, Poincar\'e, Kronecker and others. The flowering was the work of one man, Luitzen Egbertus Jan…
As David Berlinski writes (1997), the existence and nature of mathematics is a more compelling and far deeper problem than any of the problems raised by mathematics itself. Here we analyze the essence of mathematics making the main emphasis…
Charles Peirce develops a scheme for classifying different kinds of monadic, dyadic and triadic relations. His account of these different classes of relations figures prominently in the development of his algebraic and diagrammatic systems…
A class of generalized Schr\"{o}dinger problems in bounded domain is studied. A complete overview of the set of solutions is provided, depending on the values assumed by parameters involved in the problem. In order to obtain the results, we…