Computing Mathematics
Proof by Computer and Proof by Human. The idea of a proof as a simple, easily-checked method of establishing truth has undergone modification in the age of computers. But the specialisation of the mathematical world has resulted in difficulties with even entirely human-made proofs. Many major recent results of mathematics have proofs so specialised that there are very few people in the world who can understand them, while some proofs depend on computers to do calculations no human could perform. Where does pure mathematics stand in the digital age?
Professor Tony Mann has taught mathematics and computing at the University of Greenwich for over twenty years. He was President of the British Society for the History of Mathematics from 2008 to 2011 and is editor of the Newsletter of the London Mathematical Society.
(from gresham.ac.uk)
| 3. Proof by Computer and Proof by Human |
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