“There is no agreed upon definition of mathematics, but there is widespread agreement that the essence of mathematics is extension, generalization, and abstraction… [which] often bring increased confidence in the results of a specific application, as well as new viewpoints.”

—  Richard Hamming

Methods of Mathematics Applied to Calculus, Probability, and Statistics (1985)

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Richard Hamming 90
American mathematician and information theorist 1915–1998

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§ 1.
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“We are mainly interested in the processes… not… in presenting mathematics in its most abstract form. …we will often begin with concrete forms and then exhibit the process of abstraction.”

Richard Hamming (1915–1998) American mathematician and information theorist

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