Seminar
Abstract
Bernard Bolzano (1781-1848) can be regarded as an early embodiment of the transi-tions that took place in the mathematical practice during the first half of the 19th cen-tury. These transitions included shifts from a formula centered to a concept centered approach, from a formal notion of equality to a numerical notion, and from calcula-tions to proofs.
In this talk I will point out signs of these transitions in Bolzano's famous paper on the Intermediate Value Theorem (1817). Moreover I will show that in answer to the re-newed quest to correctness requirements of proofs, Bolzano turned to the millenia-old Aristotelian tradition.
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