> This book is not really addressing the more common "is math real" question of it being empirical or invented.
Please note, this is mentioned at the beginning of the review:
"I settled in to read the book “Is Math Real?” expecting to become embroiled in the age-old controversary of whether math is invented or math is discovered. Instead, I found myself confronted with two viewpoints of mathematics: one view is that mathematics is a stiff and fixed set of rules and algorithms while the other view is that mathematics is flexible and our understanding of math comes from questioning of why mathematics functions so effectively.
The premise of “Is Math Real?” is that people have different emotions about math. Some love the math and have little difficulty determining the correct answer to a problem while others loathe and dislike the math and have a difficult time ascertaining the correct response. Many times, a student is humbled or chastised for asking ‘a stupid question’. Author Cheng states that there are no stupid questions. In fact, the most profound concepts in mathematics are learned from asking the simplest of questions.”
Please note, this is mentioned at the beginning of the review:
"I settled in to read the book “Is Math Real?” expecting to become embroiled in the age-old controversary of whether math is invented or math is discovered. Instead, I found myself confronted with two viewpoints of mathematics: one view is that mathematics is a stiff and fixed set of rules and algorithms while the other view is that mathematics is flexible and our understanding of math comes from questioning of why mathematics functions so effectively.
The premise of “Is Math Real?” is that people have different emotions about math. Some love the math and have little difficulty determining the correct answer to a problem while others loathe and dislike the math and have a difficult time ascertaining the correct response. Many times, a student is humbled or chastised for asking ‘a stupid question’. Author Cheng states that there are no stupid questions. In fact, the most profound concepts in mathematics are learned from asking the simplest of questions.”