On Fri, 23 Jun 2006 22:23:56 +0200 Andreas Johansson <andreasj@gmail.com> writes: > On 6/23/06, Phil Bigelow <bigelowp@juno.com> wrote: > > > > The construction, testing, and potential falsification of > mathematical > > theorems and mathematical proofs follows the scientific method, so > I > > don't see why it isn't a science, too. > > Except theorems aren't constructed, tested and falsified that way. > A > theorem isn't a best explanation of data; it's something that's, > given > the axioms, is *true*.
Have mathematical theorems ever been declared to be "true", but later falsified
Well, people have certainly asserted as theorems things that have subsequently be shown to be wrong, but according to standard interpretation this means they never were theorems.
or put into a category of uncertainty by either another theorem
If a theorem contradicts another, you don't get either or both put into uncertainty - the whole structure comes crashing down, because the axioms are inconsistent with one another.
or because one of the axioms doesn't always follow the theorem?
I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.
-- Andreas Johansson
Why can't you be a non-conformist just like everybody else?