William Byers

To many outsiders, mathematicians appear to think like computers, grimly grinding away with a strict formal logic and moving methodically—even algorithmically—from one black-and-white deduction to another. Yet mathematicians often describe their most important breakthroughs as creative, intuitive responses to ambiguity, contradiction, and paradox. A unique examination of this less-familiar aspect of mathematics, How Mathematicians Think reveals that mathematics is a...