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Tom Körner's "The Pleasures of Counting" ( https://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Counting-T-W-K%C3%B6rner/dp/0521568234 https://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Counting-T-W

Tom Körner's "The Pleasures of Counting" ( https://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Counting-T-W-K%C3%B6rner/dp/0521568234 https://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Counting-T-W-K%C3%B6rner/dp... ) is an amusingly written yet intellectually challenging introduction to applied maths for the general audience. (His website https://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~twk/ https://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~twk/ will give you an idea of the writing style.)

LeanderK 7y ago
but does it contain a philosophical argument like Hardy?
- galangalalgol 7y ago
  Philosophical arguments are for pure math navel gazers. Applied folks are too busy actually doing things that make people's lives better. That rant does not actually represent my beliefs, it just seemed like what the ggp wanted so, tada!
  - LeanderK 7y ago
    Not sure what you're getting at. I think it's often fascinating to read texts about the instrinsic motivation of these different crafts, as an example "the beauty of programming" from linus torvalds: https://www.brynmawr.edu/cs/resources/beauty-of-programming https://www.brynmawr.edu/cs/resources/beauty-of-programming So I wonder, since this is more or less direct attack on the beauty of applied mathematics how they would respond. What makes applied math beautiful? I can certainly say what I find beautiful about CS and Machine Learning! It strikes me as obvious, but that's probably why I like it.
  - chongli 7y ago
    make people's lives better But arguably also making people’s lives worse. Applied mathematicians and physicists have contributed to the development of weapons of war since the time of Archimedes. As a committed and outspoken pacifist, Hardy wanted no part in warfare. This informed a good part of his philosophy, along with aesthetics. I would hardly call that navel gazing.
- generationP 7y ago
  It's not a philosophic pamphlet; Chapters 18 and 19 have some amount of philosophizing, but the rest of the book is heavily "show, don't tell". Which is the logical way to write a book on applied(!) maths.

LeanderK 7y ago

but does it contain a philosophical argument like Hardy?

galangalalgol 7y ago
Philosophical arguments are for pure math navel gazers. Applied folks are too busy actually doing things that make people's lives better. That rant does not actually represent my beliefs, it just seemed like what the ggp wanted so, tada!
- LeanderK 7y ago
  Not sure what you're getting at. I think it's often fascinating to read texts about the instrinsic motivation of these different crafts, as an example "the beauty of programming" from linus torvalds: https://www.brynmawr.edu/cs/resources/beauty-of-programming https://www.brynmawr.edu/cs/resources/beauty-of-programming So I wonder, since this is more or less direct attack on the beauty of applied mathematics how they would respond. What makes applied math beautiful? I can certainly say what I find beautiful about CS and Machine Learning! It strikes me as obvious, but that's probably why I like it.
- chongli 7y ago
  make people's lives better But arguably also making people’s lives worse. Applied mathematicians and physicists have contributed to the development of weapons of war since the time of Archimedes. As a committed and outspoken pacifist, Hardy wanted no part in warfare. This informed a good part of his philosophy, along with aesthetics. I would hardly call that navel gazing.
generationP 7y ago
It's not a philosophic pamphlet; Chapters 18 and 19 have some amount of philosophizing, but the rest of the book is heavily "show, don't tell". Which is the logical way to write a book on applied(!) maths.