Great Feuds in Mathematics: Ten of the Liveliest Disputes Ever.GREAT FEUDS IN MATHEMATICS: Ten of the Liveliest Disputes Ever HAL Hal: see Halle, Belgium. hal In Sufism, a state of mind reached from time to time by mystics during their journey toward God. The ahwal (plural of hal) are God-given graces that appear when a soul is purified of its attachments to the material world. HELLMAN A history of mathematics often reads like a soap opera soap opera Broadcast serial drama, characterized by a permanent cast of actors, a continuing story, tangled interpersonal situations, and a melodramatic or sentimental style. . Before the days of academic pressure to publish or perish "Publish or perish" refers to the pressure to publish work constantly in order to further or sustain one's career in academia. The competition for tenure-track faculty positions in academia puts increasing pressure on scholars to publish new work frequently. , mathematicians often held their discoveries as personal secrets and vehemently defended their ideas against both plagiarism Using ideas, plots, text and other intellectual property developed by someone else while claiming it is your original work. and criticism. Hellman, author of several popular science books, reveals the details behind some of the greatest feuds in mathematics and the intrigue and betrayal that resulted. Sixteenth-century mathematicians Girolamo Cardano and Niccolo Tartaglia argued over the invention of cubic equations, ending when Tartaglia allegedly turned over Cardano to Spanish inquisitors. Isaac Newton and William Gottfried Leibniz warred over their claims of independently developing calculus. In the early 20th century, David Hilbert and L.E.J. Brouwer argued over the foundations of mathematics Foundations of mathematics is a term sometimes used for certain fields of mathematics, such as mathematical logic, axiomatic set theory, proof theory, model theory, and recursion theory. in a battle that Albert Einstein described as "the war of the frogs and the mice." Hellman explains these battles. Wiley, 2006, 250 p., hardcover, $24.95. |
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