Table of Contents

Foreword by Matilde Marcolli ix
Preface xiii
1 Great Stories 1
2 The Meaning of Proofs 23
3 Three Pieces of Evidence 67
4 Tradition 79
5 Mathematical Language 87
6 The Origins of Argumentation 95
7 Poetry and Logic in Euclid 107
Conclusions 129
Appendix 137
References 149
Index of Names 155

About the Author

Gabriele Lolli was Professor of Mathematical Logic from 1975 to 2008 in the Computer Science Department of the University of Turin and Professor of Philosophy of Mathematics in Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa from 2008 until his retirement in 2014. He is the author of many books, including Discorso sulla matematica, which proposes a mathematical reading of Italo Calvino's Six Memos for the Next Millennium.