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A Mathematician's Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form

Book by Paul Lockhart · 5 quotes · Mathematics, Imaginary, Imagination

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A Mathematician's Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form Quotes

“If there is anything like a unifying aesthetic principle in mathematics, it is this: simple is beautiful. Mathematicians enjoy thinking about the simplest possible things, and the simplest possible things are imaginary.”

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Book:A Mathematician's Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form
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“... That little narrative is an example of the mathematician’s art: asking simple and elegant questions about our imaginary creations, and crafting satisfying and beautiful explanations. There is really nothing else quite like this realm of pure idea; it’s fascinating, it’s fun, and it’s free!”

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Book:A Mathematician's Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form
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“... This is a major theme in mathematics: things are what you want them to be. You have endless choices; there is no reality to get in your way. On the other hand, once you have made your choices then your new creations do what they do, whether you like it or not. This is the amazing thing about making imaginary patterns: they talk back!”

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Book:A Mathematician's Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form
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“So [in mathematics] we get to play and imagine whatever we want and make patterns and ask questions about them. But how do we answer these questions? It’s not at all like science. There’s no experiment I can do ... The only way to get at the truth about our imaginations is to use our imaginations, and that is hard work.”

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Book:A Mathematician's Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form
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