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1、AMathematician’sApologyG.H.HardyFirstPublishedNovember1940Asfiftyormoreyearshavepassedsincethedeathoftheauthor,thisbookisnowinthepublicdomainintheDominionofCanada.FirstElectronicEdition,Version1.0March2005PublishedbytheUniversityofAlbertaMathematicalSciencesSociety
2、AvailableontheWorldWideWebathttp://www.math.ualberta.ca/mss/ToJOHNLOMASwhoaskedmetowriteitPrefaceIamindebtedformanyvaluablecriticismstoProfessorC.D.BroadandDrC.P.Snow,eachofwhomreadmyoriginalmanuscript.Ihaveincorporatedthesubstanceofnearlyalloftheirsuggestionsinmyt
3、ext,andhavesoremovedagoodmanycruditiesandobscurities.Inonecase,Ihavedealtwiththemdifferently.My§28isbasedonashortarticlewhichIcontributedtoEureka(thejournaloftheCambridgeArchimedeanSociety)earlyintheyear,andIfounditimpossibletoremodelwhatIhadwrittensorecentlyandwit
4、hsomuchcare.Also,ifIhadtriedtomeetsuchimportantcriticismsseriously,Ishouldhavehadtoexpandthissectionsomuchastodestroythewholebalanceofmyessay.Ihavethereforeleftitunaltered,buthaveaddedashortstatementofthechiefpointsmadebymycriticsinanoteattheend.G.H.H.18July19401It
5、isamelancholyexperienceforaprofessionalmathematiciantofindhimselfwritingaboutmathematics.Thefunctionofamathematicianistodosomething,toprovenewtheorems,toaddtomathematics,andnottotalkaboutwhatheorothermathema-ticianshavedone.Statesmendespisepublicists,paintersdespis
6、eart-critics,andphysiologists,physicists,ormathematicianshaveusuallysimilarfeelings:thereisnoscornmoreprofound,oronthewholemorejustifiable,thanthatofthemenwhomakeforthemenwhoexplain.Exposition,criticism,appreciation,isworkforsecond-rateminds.Icanrememberarguingthis
7、pointonceinoneofthefewseriousconversationsthatIeverhadwithHousman.Housman,inhisLeslieStephenlectureTheNameandNatureofPoetry,haddeniedveryemphaticallythathewasa‘critic’;buthehaddenieditinwhatseemedtomeasingularlyperverseway,andhadexpressedanadmirationforliterarycrit
8、icismwhichstartledandscandalizedme.Hehadbegunwithaquotationfromhisinaugurallecture,deliveredtwenty-twoyearsbefore—Whetherthefacultyofliterarycrit
