![]() ![]() One plus one is often two but there are also situations in which something else happens. ![]() Often in research, math is not about getting the right answers to things, but about asking why something is happening, or in what context something is true. I don’t mean questions like “What’s 84 times 107?” I mean questions like: Why does 1+1=2? Why can’t we divide by zero? What is zero? What are numbers? Where does math come from? How do we know math is right? How do we know math is real? Is math real? The questions might seem innocent, naive, vague, or philosophical, but any question stemming from curiosity, confusion, scepticism, or even disbelief can lead to deep mathematics. This is how math has kept developing across history: by people asking more and more questions, and not being satisfied with superficial answers. Math might seem like it’s about answers, but an important part is about asking questions. Listen to the audio version-read by Eugenia herself-in the Next Big Idea App. She is also Honorary Visiting Fellow at City, University of London.īelow, Eugenia shares 5 key insights from her new book, Is Math Real?: How Simple Questions Lead Us to Mathematics’ Deepest Truths. She is Scientist in Residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she teaches abstract mathematics to undergraduate art students. Eugenia Cheng is a mathematician, educator, and pianist.
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