“How not to solve it”: I really wanted to like Polya’s classic how-to-math book, but like @DRMacIver I got little/nothing out of it.
Why hasn’t anyone written anything better? (Is there something better I don’t know about?)https://twitter.com/DRMacIver/status/1063841518656602118 …
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Out of curiousity, do you really think Proofs and Refutations is good for teaching non-mathematicians to think mathematically? I love it as a book, and as a way for teaching how to think about philosophy of maths, but I'm less sure it would teach good problem solving.
It helped me learn to problem solve. Of course, I was already on my way to being reasonably mathematically adept. I guess I was 18 or 19 when I read it, not sure exactly, but I'd been doing mathematics seriously for a year or two at that point.
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Good to know, thanks! I read it only after my maths degree which made it hard for me assess that.
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Actually "learn to problem solve" isn't quite right. More like "learn what mathematics is, and how it's done". It came at about the same time as I had a very useful (& intense) argument with a philosopher (Graham Priest) over what mathematical definitions are.
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