I fear that the beauty of mathematics is hard to easily communicate. It is not in pretty pictures of fancy functions, but in rediscovering theorems and their proof. The most awe inducing results during undergrad was Galois theory, but you need quite a bit of mechanics to be able to understand the proof.
I remember an exhibition on Gödel, it completely failed to communicate how ground breaking and fundamental his achievement were.
The most awe inducing results during undergrad was Galois theory, but you need quite a bit of mechanics to be able to understand the proof.
But what was the essence of that awe?
For me, when I had that special feeling, it came from the flash of insight of seeing that this thing is like that thing. It was seeing mappings and patterns, and I think this can be conveyed to the novice without having to show something as complex as Galois theory.
[+] [-] ColinWright|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jamesbritt|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] antoinehersen|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jamesbritt|14 years ago|reply
But what was the essence of that awe?
For me, when I had that special feeling, it came from the flash of insight of seeing that this thing is like that thing. It was seeing mappings and patterns, and I think this can be conveyed to the novice without having to show something as complex as Galois theory.