Adam Taylor – Cantor's Archive

Philosophy

Mathematics as Fiction: A Common Sense Approach

The following essay was written in 2014 when I was an undergraduate student at the University of Florida; it was the winner of the mathematics department’s Robert Long Prize for writing in the history and/or philosophy of mathematics. In the intervening time, my views on ontological/epistemological status

Philosophy

The Demons of the Mathematicians

There is a rich history of mathematicians, philosophers, and other thinkers invoking demons (real or imaginary) in their reasonings. The tradition goes back at least to the iconic ancient Greek philosopher Socrates.

Differential Equations

The “Well-Posedness” of Differential Equations: the Sense of Hadamard

An overwhelmingly large portion of our modeling of the universe is accomplished by posing and solving differential equations..

Analysis

Distributions: What Exactly is the Dirac Delta “Function”?

The theory of distributions , also known as generalized functions, often remains something of an enigma…