![]() ![]() ![]() Mathematics is the search for universal, not base-specific, truth. Mathematicians do not like things which work only in base-10 it is only because we have ten fingers that we find that system interesting at all. Because mathematicians like the puzzles which work on the pure number rather than the symbolic digit and the system we happen to be writing our numbers down in, there is a sense that, when a puzzle works only in one given base, there is something rather, well, 'secind class' about it. A maths puzzle is not complete when you merely find an answer, a maths puzzle is complete when you've then tried to generalize it to other situations as well-and minds including Leonard Euler and Lord Kelvin have excelled in mathematics by displaying just this kind of curiosity. Mathematicians constantly want to find solutions and patterns which apply to as many situations as possible, i.e. Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension: A Mathematician's Journey Through Narcissistic Numbers, Optimal Dating Algorithms, at Least Two Kinds of Infinity, and More Paperback Illustrated, Novemby Matt Parker (Author) 1,187 ratings Editors' pick Best Nonfiction See all formats and editions Kindle 12. ![]() “This quest to take a problem and see what happens in different situations is called generalizing, and it is this force that drives mathematics forward. ![]()
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