jon (05/27/82)
Did someone mention my favorite textbook? "A Stress Analysis of a Strapless Evening Gown" was edited by Robert A. Baker, published by Prentice-Hall in 1963, and published in paperback by Anchor in 1969. "On the Nature of Mathematical Proof", by Joel Cohen, appeared originally in "The Worm-Runner's Digest", vol III no 3 (Dec 1961). and is one of the many fine articles included in the book. In it, Cohen proves: Lemma I: All horses are the same color (the famous induction proof) Theorem I: Every horse has an infinite number of limbs (proof by intimidation) Corollary I: Everything is the same color Corollary II: Everything is white Theorem II: Alexander the Great did not exist, and he had an infinite number of limbs. He also provides a very elegant proof of this intuitively obvious theorem: A set whose only element is a set may be isomorphic to a set whose only element is a set whose only elements are a subgroup of the group of elements in the set which is the only element of the set with which it is isomorphic. The book is highly recommended.