Abstract / résuméCUMC / CCEM 2005



Name / nom: "Finn" Heather Upham

School / école: McGill University

Length / durée: 50 min

Title / titre: Metaphorical Mathematics: A Cognitive Construction of the Real Line

Abstract / résumé:

We are quite comfortable with understanding the universe in abstract terms. Equations and inequalities seem natural as a means of describing and predicting the physical world. But where did we get these concepts? Some cognitive scientists, specifically George Lakoff and Rafael E. Núñez, do not want to assume that they are innate. In the book "Where Mathematics Comes From" they put forth a theory on how these abstract ideas are constructed out of metaphors from our physical experience.

Beginning with an introduction to one particular metaphorical theory of cognition, this talk will construct the algebraic numbers as consequences of the ideas of containers, distances, etc. and end with a look at how we approach infinity, to add transcendentals.

Since this presentation is concentrating on basic mathematical operations, it will be very accessible, but still relevant to anyone studying mathematics.

Prerequisites / choses nécessaires: Arithmetic, Calculus I, introductory set theory.



PDF format / format PDF: upham.pdf