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A Mathematician's Apology is a 1940 essay by British mathematician G. H. Hardy which defends the pursuit of mathematics for its own sake. Central to Hardy's "apology" – in the sense of a formal justification or defence (as in Plato's Apology of Socrates) – is an argument
- G. H. Hardy, C. P. Snow
- 1940
The only way to assess someone's knowledge, in Hardy's view, was to examine him. That went for mathe matics, literature, philosophy, politics, anything you like. If the man had bluffed and then wilted under the questions, that was his lookout. First things came first, in that brilliant and concentrated mind.
A Mathematician’s Apology. G. H. Hardy. First Published November 1940. As fifty or more years have passed since the death of the author, this book is now in the public domain in the Dominion of Canada. First Electronic Edition, Version 1.0 March 2005.
This 'apology', written in 1940 as his mathematical powers were declining, offers a brilliant and engaging account of mathematics as very much more than a science; when it was first published, Graham Greene hailed it alongside Henry James's notebooks as 'the best account of what it was like to be a creative artist'.
- J. F. Randolph, G. H. Hardy
- 1942
“The Apology” is Plato’s account of the three speeches that Socrates gave at his trial for false teaching and heresy in 399 B.C.E. At the age of 71, Socrates fought at his trial not for his life, but for the truth.
This book begins by explaining why some men pursue mathematics, others literary studies, others chess or cricket. Mr Hardy reiterates his famous dictum that all good mathematics is useless - "the study of mathematics is, if an unprofitable, a perfectly harmless and innocent occupation."
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Socrates, Roman mural 1 st century. The Apology. by Plato. I do not know, men of Athens, how my 17 accusers affected you; as for me, I was almost carried away in spite of myself, so persuasively did they speak. And yet, hardly anything of what they said is true.
