Is Mathematics Inevitable?

This is a collection of gems from the literature of mathematics that shine as brightly today as when they first appeared in print. They deserve to be seen and admired.The selections include two opposing views on the purpose of mathematics, The Strong Law of Small Numbers, the treatment of calculus in the 1771 Encyclopaedia Britannica, several proofs that the number of legs on a horse is infinite, a deserved refutation of the ridiculous Euler-Diderot anecdote, the real story of p and the Indiana Legislature, the reason why Theodorus stopped proving that square roots were irrational when he to the square root of 17, an excerpt from Mathematics Made Difficult, a glimpse into the mind of a calculating prodigy….There will be something of interest here for almost anyone interested in mathematics.

Underwood Dudley was born in New York City in 1937. He attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology and had a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He is the author of Mathematical Cranks, Numerology, and The Trisectors. He has been a Polya Lecturer for the MAA, has edited the College Mathematics Journal and the Pi Mu Epsilon Journal, has received a Trevor Evans Award, and has an Erdos number of 1. He has been a member of the MAA for longer than half of the organizations existence.