P.K. Halmos's argument that mathematics is creative art

Mathematics as Creative Art

P.K. Halmos waxes poetic about mathematics, claiming that not only does mathematics present practical value but also that "mathematics is an art" (p. 379). Envisioning mathematics as art affirms the creative potential of math and acknowledges the myriad ways math becomes manifest in everyday life. What Halmos refers to as "mathophysics" includes the applied principles of "mathology." Moreover, Halmos claims that "mathematics is very much alive today," a statement as true in 1968 when Halmos wrote "Mathematics as a Creative Art" as it is in 2006 (p. 380).

As a math teacher married to a painter, I especially relate to Halmos' comparison of the role of the mathematician to the role of the visual artist. The mathematician's role, like that of the painter, is varied and flexible. Both the mathematician and the painter interpret the world but just as the painter is not "a camera," neither is the mathematician "an engineer,' (p. 388). At the same time, mathematics and painting both serve concrete functions, and just as a painter can render reality with as much splendor and color as a photograph so too can a mathematician convey theorems through brilliant engineering and design projects. if, as Halmos suggests, math is a creative art then math must also be the handmaid of science.