The Reasoner
Posted by David Corfield
My past and future colleague Jon Williamson started a monthly digest of research on reasoning - The Reasoner. I was asked to guest edit the August edition, which required me to write an editorial and to interview someone of my choice. I opted for Brendan Larvor, a philosopher with very close interests to my own. You can read these items here.
Posted at August 26, 2007 9:20 AM UTC
How do mathematicians steer? Re: The Reasoner
“How do mathematicians steer their research” is a wonderful question. I also like the use of “steer” for its association with the old Greek word “kybernetes” and thus Cybernetics.
It sees that such a process is important, yet not within Mathematics at the formal level.
It is not reducible to Citation Index and h-number, for example.
The hierarchical classification of mathematical topics may play a role in what is apparently a very non-hierarchical process.
Brendon Larvor’s insights into the Lakotos programme are fascinating, as is your introduction, and the entire August edition. Thank you for sharing these.