Mathematics

Theaimofthisbookistoexplain，carefullybutnottechnically，thedifferencesbetweenadvanced，research-levelmathematics，andthesortofmathematicswelearnatschool.Themostfundamentaldifferencesarephilosophical，andreadersofthisbookwillemergewithaclearerunderstandingofparadoxical-soundingconceptssuchasinfinity，curvedspace，andimaginarynumbers.Thefirstfewchaptersareaboutgeneralaspectsofmathematicalthought.Thesearefollowedbydiscussionsofmorespecifictopics，andthebookcloseswithachapteransweringcommonsociologicalquestionsaboutthemathematicalcommunity(suchas"Isittruethatmathematiciansburnoutattheageof25?")Itistheidealintroductionforanyonewhowishestodeepentheirunderstandingofmathematics.