Reuben Hersh

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Reuben Hersh (born 1927) is an American mathematician and academic, best known for his writings on the nature, practice, and social impact of mathematics. This work challenges and complements mainstream philosophy of mathematics.

After receiving a B.A. in English literature from Harvard University in 1946, Hersh spent a decade writing for Scientific American and working as a machinist. In 1962, he was awarded a Ph.D. in mathematics from New York University; his advisor was P.D. Lax). He has been affiliated with the University of New Mexico since 1964, where he is now professor emeritus.

Hersh has written a number of technical articles on partial differential equations, probability, random evolutions, and linear operator equations. He is the (co)author of four articles in Scientific American, and 12 articles in the Mathematical Intelligencer.

Hersh is best known as the coauthor (with Philip J. Davis) of The Mathematical Experience, which won the National Book Award in 1983. He also sympathizes with the perspectives on mathematics of Imre Lakatos and Where Mathematics Comes From.

[edit] Books by Hersh

• 1999 (1981) (with Philip Davis). The Mathematical Experience. Mariner Books.
• 2005 (1986) (with Philip Davis). Descartes' Dream: The World According to Mathematics. Dover.
• 1997. What Is Mathematics, Really? Oxford Univ. Press.
• 2006 (edited). 18 Unconventional Essays on the Nature of Mathematics. Springer Verlag.
• 2009 (with Vera John-Steiner). Loving and Hating Mathematics.Princeton University Press

[edit] External links

• Web page at the Univ. of New Mexico.