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Excursions in the History of Mathematics pp 215–236Cite as

Proof: A Many-Splendored Thing

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Abstract

In a 1993 article, Jaffe and Quinn, concerned that “today in certain areas there is again a trend toward basing mathematics on intuitive reasoning without proof” (Bull Am Math Soc 29:1–13, 1993), have suggested a framework for dealing with the issue which includes attaching labels to “speculative and intuitive” work. The article has engendered a fascinating debate within the mathematical community about the nature and function of proof in mathematics and, inevitably, about the nature of the mathematical enterprise, for it is sometimes (often?) difficult to isolate “proving” from the general fabric of doing mathematics.

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  1. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada

    Israel Kleiner

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Kleiner, I. (2012). Proof: A Many-Splendored Thing. In: Excursions in the History of Mathematics. Birkhäuser Boston. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-8176-8268-2_10

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