Making sense of proof by contradiction
There are certain topics in mathematics where ‘philosophy’ (in the broadest sense) is likely to intrude. Introducing negative or complex numbers is one: is mathematics discovered or invented? Another one is proof by contradiction (or contrapositive, see Kinnear & Sangwin, 2018, for a discussion of the difference).
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- Mathematics Education Centre
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Mathematics in SchoolVolume
51Issue
5Pages
32 - 35Publisher
The Mathematical AssociationVersion
- VoR (Version of Record)
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© The Mathematical AssociationPublisher statement
Reproduced with the permission of the publisher.Publication date
2022-11-01Copyright date
2022Notes
This article first appeared in Scottish Mathematical Council Journal 51 (2021), pp. 74-77 and is reprinted in Mathematics in School with the kind permission of the Council.ISSN
0305-7259Publisher version
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- en
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Dr Colin Foster. Deposit date: 31 October 2022Usage metrics
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