A Mathematician's Apology
Few books manage to make you feel the pull of a subject you've never studied, but this celebrated essay by G H Hardy comes remarkably close. Written as a kind of intellectual self-justification, it sets out to explain what pure mathematics actually is and why it matters, not in practical terms, but on aesthetic ones. Hardy draws direct comparisons between mathematical thinking and the arts, placing it alongside painting and poetry as a discipline concerned above all with beauty. Hardy himself was a fascinating figure. Born in 1877, he spent his career working in mathematical analysis and number theory, often in close collaboration with J E Littlewood. He is perhaps equally remembered for recognising the extraordinary abilities of Srinivasa Ramanujan, a self-taught mathematician from India, and championing his work to the wider academic world. That instinct for spotting genuine brilliance says something about Hardy's own sensibility. His conviction was firm: mathematics should be pursued for its own sake. He had little patience for applied work, and even less for the idea that intellectual endeavour should serve political or destructive ends. It's a position that comes through with quiet force in every section of this book. Accessible to general readers yet intellectually serious, it offers a rare and honest glimpse into how a dedicated mathematical mind actually works.
- Author: G H Hardy
- Publisher: Hawk Press
- Genre: Painting
- ISBN: 978-9388318143
- Pages: 82 pages