What Is Mathematics? Expectations" by Charles Dickens. According to Constance Reid, Courant finalized the title after a conversation with Thomas Mann. What Is Mathematics? What Is Mathematics? is a mathematics book written by Richard Courant and Herbert Robbins, published in England by Oxford University Press. It is an introduction to mathematics, intended both for the mathematics student and for the general public. First published in 1941, it discusses number theory, geometry, topology and calculus. A second edition was published in 1996 with an additional chapter on recent progress in mathematics, written by Ian Stewart. The book was based on Courant's course material. Although
What Is a Nation? today". At the current time, however, the existence of separate nations serves to guarantee liberty, in a way which would be lost if the whole world served under one law and one master. "Each brings one note to the great concert of humanity..." Renan gives Switzerland as a prime example of a nation established by volition (choice, will): Renan's argument was summarized in the German term "Willensnation" ("nation-by-volition"), used to describe the status of Switzerland as a federal state by choice, and not along ethnic boundaries. The term became popular to describe the Swiss political model after World War I