How To Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method
In lucid and appealing prose, Polya reveals how the mathematical method of demonstrating a proof or finding an unknown can be of help in attacking any problem that can be "reasoned" out--from building a bridge to winning a game of anagrams. Generations of readers have relished Polya's deft--indeed, brilliant--instructions on stripping away irrelevancies and going straight to the heart of the problem. In this best-selling classic, George Pólya revealed how the mathematical method of demonstrating a proof or finding an unknown can be of help in attacking any problem that can be "reasoned" out--from building a bridge to winning a game of anagrams. Generations of readers have relished Pólya's deft instructions on stripping away irrelevancies and going straight to the heart of a problem. How to Solve It popularized heuristics, the art and science of discovery and invention. It has been in print continuously since 1945 and has been translated into twenty-three different languages. Pólya was one of the most influential mathematicians of the twentieth century. He made important contributions to a great variety of mathematical from complex analysis to mathematical physics, number theory, probability, geometry, astronomy, and combinatorics. He was also an extraordinary teacher--he taught until he was ninety--and maintained a strong interest in pedagogical matters throughout his long career. In addition to How to Solve It , he published a two-volume work on the topic of problem solving, Mathematics of Plausible Reasoning , also with Princeton. Pólya is one of the most frequently quoted mathematicians, and the following statements from How to Solve It make clear "My method to overcome a difficulty is to go around it." "Geometry is the science of correct reasoning on incorrect figures." "In order to solve this differential equation you look at it till a solution occurs to you."