Prelude to Mathematics (Revised)

Title: Prelude to Mathematics (Revised) Author: W W Sawyer ISBN: 9780486244013 Publisher: Dover Publications Published: 2011 Binding: Paperback Language: English Condition: Used: Near Fine Science & Math 1637720 Publisher Description: "No mathematician can be a complete mathematician unless he is also something of a poet." -- K. WeierstrassIn this lively and stimulating account, noted mathematician and educator W. W. Sawyer (Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto) defines mathematics as "the classification and study of all possible patterns." It is a broad definition, but one that seems appropriate to the great scope and depth of the topic. Indeed, mathematics seems to have few boundaries, either in applications to practical matters or in its mind-stretching excursions into realms of pure abstraction.Gearing his approach to the layman whose grasp of things mathematical may be a