Tag Archives: What is Mathematics

The probabilistic proof that 2^400-593 is a prime: a revolutionary new type of mathematical proof, or not a proof at all?

Posted on April 22, 2021 by Gil Kalai

Avi Wigderson gave a great CS colloquium talk at HUJI on Monday (a real auditorium talk with an audience of about 200 people). The title of the talk was The Value of Errors in Proofs – a fascinating journey from … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Science and Optimization, Controversies, Philosophy, What is Mathematics | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

What is mathematics (or at least, how it feels)

Posted on March 28, 2021 by Gil Kalai

(I suppose that this amazing picture can serve as a metaphor also for life, for science, for human rights, for happiness and for a variety of other things.) Picture: AFP Suez Canal: the Ever Green ship blockage.

Posted in What is Mathematics | Tagged | 2 Comments

TYI44: “What Then, To Raise an Old Question, is Mathematics?”

Posted on March 26, 2020 by Gil Kalai

“The argument is carried out not in mathematical symbols but in ordinary English, there is no obscure or technical terms. Knowledge of calculus is not presupposed. In fact, one hardly need to know how to count. Yet any mathematician will … Continue reading →

Posted in Test your intuition, What is Mathematics | Tagged , | 14 Comments

The Golden Room and the Golden Mountain

Posted on June 27, 2008 by Gil Kalai

  Christine Björner’s words at the Stockholm Festive Combinatorics are now available to all our readers. What makes this moving and interesting, beyond the intimate context of the conference, is our (mathematician’s) struggle (and usually repeated failures) to explain to … Continue reading →

Posted in What is Mathematics | Tagged , | 1 Comment