[Koshkin]

> as opposed

From The Rising Sea: Grothendieck on simplicity and generality by C. McLarty:

Grothendieck describes two styles in mathematics. If you think of a theorem to be proved as a nut to be opened, so as to reach “the nourishing flesh protected by the shell”, then the hammer and chisel principle is: “put the cutting edge of the chisel against the shell and strike hard. If needed, begin again at many different points until the shell cracks—and you are satisfied”. He goes on to say: "I can illustrate the second approach with the same image of a nut to be opened. The first analogy that came to my mind is of immersing the nut in some softening liquid, and why not simply water? From time to time you rub so the liquid penetrates better, and otherwise you let time pass. The shell becomes more flexible through weeks and months—when the time is ripe, hand pressure is enough, the shell opens like a perfectly ripened avocado!"

[JadeNB]

Incidentally, I have heard Serre's work described as the exemplar of the hammer-and-chisel approach. (McLarty goes on to say that Bourbaki's work fits in the rising-sea approach, which is surprising to me.)