The mathematical question is "Why?" It's always why. And the only way we know how to answer such questions is to come up, from scratch, with these narrative arguments that explain it. So what I want to do with this book is open up this world of mathematical reality, the creatures that we build there, the questions that we ask there, the ways in which we poke and prod (known as problems), and how we can possibly craft these elegant reason-poems.
Mathematicians enjoy thinking about the simplest possible things, and the simplest possible things are imaginary. - Paul Lockhart
Mathematicians enjoy thinking about the simplest possible things, and the simplest possible things are imaginary.
- Paul Lockhart
A good problem is something you don't know how to solve. That's what makes it a good puzzle and a good opportunity. - Paul Lockhart
A good problem is something you don't know how to solve. That's what makes it a good puzzle and a good opportunity.
Doing mathematics should always mean finding patterns and crafting beautiful and meaningful explanations. - Paul Lockhart
Doing mathematics should always mean finding patterns and crafting beautiful and meaningful explanations.
Mathematics is the purest of the arts, as well as the most misunderstood. - Paul Lockhart
Mathematics is the purest of the arts, as well as the most misunderstood.
I don't see how it's doing society any good to have so many members walking around with vague memories of algebraic formulas and geometric diagrams a… - Paul Lockhart
I don't see how it's doing society any good to have so many members walking around with vague memories of algebraic formulas and geometric diagrams a…
If teaching is reduced to mere data transmission, if there is no sharing or excitement and wonder, if teachers themselves are passive recipients of i… - Paul Lockhart
If teaching is reduced to mere data transmission, if there is no sharing or excitement and wonder, if teachers themselves are passive recipients of i…
To do mathematics is to engage in an act of discovery and conjecture, intuition and inspiration; to be in a state of confusion − not because it makes… - Paul Lockhart
To do mathematics is to engage in an act of discovery and conjecture, intuition and inspiration; to be in a state of confusion − not because it makes…
The only thing I am interested in using mathematics for is to have a good time and to help others do the same. - Paul Lockhart
The only thing I am interested in using mathematics for is to have a good time and to help others do the same.
There is nothing as dreamy and poetic, nothing as radical, subversive, and psychedelic, as mathematics. It is every bit as mind blowing as cosmology … - Paul Lockhart
There is nothing as dreamy and poetic, nothing as radical, subversive, and psychedelic, as mathematics. It is every bit as mind blowing as cosmology …
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