庞加莱关于数学创造(翻译).pdf

庞加莱 关于数学创造（翻译） 庞加莱 关于数学创造（翻译） 2010-11-15 15:37:21 昨天刘未鹏在日志中提到庞加莱关于 数学创造的文章，顺手译成了中文，如下： Mathematical Creation 数学创造 How is mathematics made? What sort of brain is it that can compose the propositions and systems of mathematics? How do the mental processes of the geometer or algebraist compare with those of the musician, the poet, the painter, the chess player? In mathematical creation which are the key elements? Intuition? An exquisite sense of space and time? The precision of a calculating machine? A powerful memory? Formidable skill in following complex logical sequences? A supreme capacity for concentration? 数学是由什么构成的？哪种类型的大脑能够创造数学的定 理和系统？几何学家或是代数学家的思维活动和音乐家、是 人画家和象棋选手有什么不同？数学创造中，哪些是关键元 素？直觉？空间和时间的精确感觉？机器一般的计算准确 性？超强的记忆力？复杂逻辑推导的超强技能？极好的注 意力？ The essay below, delivered in the first years of this century as a lecture before the Psychological Society in Paris, is the most celebrated of the attempts to describe what goes on in the mathematicians brain. Its author, Henri Poincar é , cousin of Raymond, the politician, was peculiarly fitted to undertake the task. One of the foremost mathematicians of all time, unrivaled as an analyst and mathematical physicist, Poincar é was known also as a brilliantly lucid expositor of the philosophy of science. These writings are of the first importance as professional treatises for scientists and are at the same time accessible, in large part, to the understanding of the thoughtful layman. 下面的文章， 是本世纪 （20 世纪） 初期在巴黎心理学会上做 的一次报告，是描述关于数学家大脑如何运转的最著名的尝 试。该报告的作者， 亨利·庞加莱（是政治家雷蒙德的表亲） ， 是承担该任务的极其适当的人选。作为历史上最重要的数学 家之一，一位无可匹敌的分析和数学物理学家，庞加莱同样 擅长对科学哲学作出清晰准确的阐释。这份报告对于科学家 们而言是一极其重要的专业论述，同时在很大程度上，也可 以为非专业人士所理解。 Poincar é on Mathematical Creation 庞加莱 关于数学创造 The genesis of mathematical creation is a problem which should intensely interest the psychologist. It is the activity in which the human mind seems to take le