An introduction to mathematics, by A. N. Whitehead.

AN INTRODUCTION TO
MATHEMATICS
CHAPTER I
THE ABSTRACT NATURE OF MATHEMATICS
THE study of mathematics is apt to commence in disappointment. The important
applications of the science, the theoretical
interest of its ideas, and the logical rigour of
its methods, all generate the expectation of
a speedy introduction to processes of interest.
We are told that by its aid the stars are
weighed and the billions of molecules in a
drop of water are counted. Yet, like the
ghost of Hamlet's father, this great science
eludes the efforts of our mental weapons
to grasp it-"'Tis here, 'tis there, 'tis
gone"-and what we do see does not suggest
the same excuse for illusiveness as sufficed
for the ghost, that it is too noble for our
gross methods. "A show of violence," if
ever excusable, may surely be "offered"
to the trivial results which occupy the
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