David Bowers
The Ohio State University
Creativity in Proof Writing:
David will be presenting based on his paper Mathematical Proof and Genre Theory. Mathematical proof is one of the central components of mathematics broadly and mathematical epistemology specifically. Despite this centrality, many students (and even mathematicians) often only have an intuitive notion of what exactly makes a “proof.” In this talk, David apply ideas and frameworks from cognitive science and from literary/media analysis to deeply explore aspects of mathematical proof that are often left tacit, with the goal of inspiring conversations about mathematical practice and enculturation. (1) Do the norms of proof-writing, or elements thereof, restrict mathematical creativity (e.g. of students)? (2) Do some of proof’s traditional genre features restrict mathematical communication (e.g. in classrooms)?
