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by zmgsabst
973 days ago
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This is arguably what caused the push for formalism in mathematics: Multiple papers on calculus claimed results about continuity and derivatives, but we’re using subtly different definitions. The conflict between those results, and the counter-examples to demonstrate the difference, led to mathematicians building the modern machinery around proofs. > The Weierstrass function has historically served the role of a pathological function, being the first published example (1872) specifically concocted to challenge the notion that every continuous function is differentiable except on a set of isolated points. Weierstrass's demonstration that continuity did not imply almost-everywhere differentiability upended mathematics, overturning several proofs that relied on geometric intuition and vague definitions of smoothness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weierstrass_function |
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