A Mathematician's Progress

Abstract

Students often note that mathematics in its full dress suit of postulates, definitions, theorems, and formal proofs is more of a fossil than a living organism. The reader who scans such material has no idea of the hours and days of cogitation spent on even minor points, the misdirections that led to blind alleys, the sudden inspirations, and all the various thrills and disappointments that make mathematics a truly human experience. Furthermore, with no particular idea of just how the result was achieved, the student loses a great deal of useful information regarding methods of procedure—and it is precisely such information that would prove most valuable to him and others who are trying to penetrate the domains of mathematics by personal thought.