Descripciones mejoradas de Syndetics:

Rationalist philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes visualized a world unified by mathematics, in which all intellectual issues could be resolved rationally by local computation. This series of provocative essays takes a modern look at the seventeenth-century thinker's dream, examining the physical and intellectual influences of mathematics on society, particularly in light of technological advances.

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Preface(p. xi)
• Acknowledgements(p. xvii)
• I This Mathematized World(p. 1)
• Descartes' Dream(p. 3)
• Where the Dream Stands Today(p. 9)
• The Limits of Mathematics(p. 13)
• Are We Drowning in Digits?(p. 15)
• The Stochastized World: A Matter of Style?(p. 18)
• Feedback and Control: The Equilibrium Machine(p. 33)
• Computer Graphics and the Possibility of High Art(p. 43)
• II The Social Tyranny of Numbers(p. 55)
• Mathematics and Rhetoric(p. 57)
• The Criterion Makers: Mathematics and Social Policy(p. 74)
• The Computerization of Love(p. 87)
• Testing(p. 93)
• Mathematics as a Social Filter(p. 99)
• A "Marxian" Analysis of the Role of Computing in Organizations(p. 105)
• III Cognition and Computation(p. 113)
• The Descriptive, Predictive, and Prescriptive Functions of Applied Mathematics(p. 115)
• The Intellectual Components of Technology, Mathematics and Computation: Four Lists(p. 122)
• Metathinking as a Way of Life(p. 132)
• Three Meanings of Computation(p. 139)
• What Scientific Computation is for(p. 154)
• Why Should I Believe a Computer: Computation as Process and Product(p. 159)
• The Whorfian Hypothesis: Ends and Means in Computer Languages(p. 165)
• The Programming Milieu(p. 179)
• IV Perspectives Through Time(p. 187)
• Of Time and Mathematics(p. 189)
• Non-Euclidean Geometry and Ethical Relativism(p. 203)
• The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Computers. Are We Hooked?(p. 218)
• V Mathematics and Ethics(p. 229)
• Platonic Mathematics Meets Platonic Philosophy of Religion: An Ethical Metaphor(p. 231)
• The Computer Thinks: An Interpretation in the Medieval Mode(p. 240)
• Mathematics and the End of the World(p. 262)
• VI Personal Meanings(p. 269)
• Mathematics and Imposed Reality(p. 271)
• Loss of Meaning through Intellectual Processes: Mathematical Abstraction(p. 278)
• VII Envoi(p. 301)
• Bibliography(p. 307)
• Index(p. 317)

Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Different in approach from the authors' well received The Mathematical Experience , which concentrated on developing a philosophy of mathematics, this eclectic collection of essays examines the application of mathematics to nature and human activities. Applied mathematics has become all-pervasive during the past 100 years as business, technology, and mathematics have combined to generate the computer age and the information society. In episodic fashion, Davis and Hersh present a lively narrative on the background and history of automation technology and its resultant social changes, and they evaluate the effectiveness, benefits, and even dangers of the ``mathematization of the world.'' Fascinating and unique reading, though some of the essays are rather technical for the nonspecialist. Still, highly recommended. Robert Paustian, Wilkes Coll. Lib., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

In their previous book, The Mathematical Experience (CH, Sept '81), the authors presented a collection of informal essays to answer and illustrate what it means to do mathematics. In this new book they adopt the same engaging style and tackle the problem of describing and assessing the relation of mathematics to the world outside the discipline. Descartes' dream of the mathematization of the world is compared to the growth of computing and its infiltration into an increasing number of activities. The authors' call for caution and perspective in this enterprise is elegantly made and soundly argued with examples and rich discussion. They also outline an informal philosophy of computation from which they base some of their conclusions. For the style of discourse and the importance of the topic, this book is a valuable acquisition to any library.-J. McCleary, Vassar College

Booklist Review

Complex, provocative, and highly original, this collection of essays calls attention to how mathematics, mostly through computers, has pervaded all aspects of modern life technological, social, intellectual, artistic, even emotional. (O 15 86)

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Philip J. Davis is Professor Emeritus, Division of Applied Mathematics, Brown University
Reuben Hersh is Professor Emeritus, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque