What is Mathematics (

ion and Generality Abstraction is the generalization of myriad particularities. It is the identification of the essence of the subject, together with a systematic organization around this essence. By appropriate generalizations, the many and varied details are organized into a more manageable framework. Work within particular areas of detail then becomes the area of specialists. Put another way, the drive to abstraction is the desire to unify diverse instances under a single conceptual framework. Beginning with the abstraction of the number concept from the specific things being counted, mathematical advancement has repeatedly been achieved through insightful abstraction. These abstractions have simplified its topics, made the otherwise often overwhelming number of details more easily accessible, established foundations for orderly organization, allowed easier penetration of the subject and the development of more powerful methods. Simplicity (Search for a Single Exposition), Complexity (Dense Exposition) For the outsider looking in, it is hard to believe that simplicity is a characteristic of mathematics. Yet, for the practitioner of mathematics, simplicity is a strong part of the culture. Simplicity in what respect? The mathematician desires the simplest possible single exposition. Through greater abstraction, a single exposition is possible at the price of additional terminology and machinery to allow all of the various particularities to be subsumed into the exposition at the higher level. This is significant: although the mathematician may indeed have found his desired single exposition (for which reason he claims also that simplicity has been achieved), the reader often bears the burden of correctly and conscientiously exploring the quite significant terrain that lies beneath the abstract language of the higher-level exposition. Thus, I believe it is the mathematician’s desire for a single exposition that leads to the attendant complexity of mathematics, especially in contemporary 8 What is Mathematics?, c ©2009-2010, Assad Ebrahim