Mathematical Reasoning

"Few authors who are not mathematicians have the understanding and sympathy for the subject and its practitioners that is shown in this book, whose author is an experimental psychologist and former VP of Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc. He surveys the nature, joys, usefulness, foundations, and teaching of mathematics, in its manifestations of pattern-finding, problem-solving, conjecture-making, and proof-devising. He concludes, "the supreme reason for acquiring some competence in mathematics is the door it opens to an immensely attractive and rewarding workspace-or playground-for the mind." This is a great book for nonmathematicians, one that a mathematician can praise." - Paul Campbell, Beloit College, USA

"Nickerson is a reliable and enthusiastic guide through a many-layered forest of ideas, leading us at each turn to a new appreciation of its topography - the box canyons and precipices and monumental vistas - of this very human adventure. His excellent references mark trailheads for those who would venture farther." - Peter Killeen, Ph.D., Arizona State University, USA

"A wide-ranging and insightful account of the nature of mathematics (its origins, utility, beauty) as well as of cognition and reasoning in general. This book is a welcome antidote to the notion that math is primarily a matter of computation." - John A. Paulos, Ph.D., Temple University, USA