Abstract
Trying to understand the world around him, man organizes his observations and ideas into conceptual frames. These we shall call models. The insight gotten by applying logic to the concepts of a model will be called its theory. Mathematical models are logically coherent and have extensive theories. Others may be less strict but no less useful.
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Literature
To consider mathematics as a collection of theories of mathematical models is an enlightening and useful point of view, but a good description of the subject should also give an idea of its richness and variety. The classic What is Mathematics? by R. Courant and H. Robbins (Oxford 1947) is perhaps the best effort in this direction written for the general public. It is a rambling and very readable account of some basic concepts and results in algebra, geometry, and analysis.
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© 1977 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
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Gårding, L. (1977). Models and Reality. In: Encounter with Mathematics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9641-7_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9641-7_1
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-9643-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-9641-7
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