A Mathematician’s Apology
Hardy's defence of pure mathematics as a creative art, with C. P. Snow's memoir of him as foreword.
Hardy wrote this in 1940, at sixty-two, believing his creative work was behind him. It is a defence of mathematics as an art pursued for its beauty rather than its uses, and includes his claim that nothing he had done was of the slightest practical value, a judgement number theory has since overturned. C. P. Snow’s memoir of him serves as the foreword.
Recommended by 1 Person
Marcus du Sautoy
Yes, it really appealed to me when I read it as a kid because I was interested in music, I played the trumpet, I loved doing theatre, and somehow GH Hardy in that book revealed to me how much mathematics is a creative art as much as a useful science. In fact he probably goes further, he really revels in the beauty of the subject and says he’s not particularly interested in the applications.
Interview · September 2014
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