"Paradoxes of Traditional Thinking"
by Peter Hilton, SUNY Binghamton and
Jean Pederson, Santa Clara University

Abstract: Many traditional ways of thinking lead to obvious contradictions. We analyze the nature of some of these misconceptions from the mathematical point of view.

Brief Biography of Peter Hilton
Peter Hilton is Distinguished Professor of Mathematics Emeritus at the State University of New York at Binghamton, and Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at the University of Central Florida at Orlando. His principal research interests are in algebraic topology, homological algebra and group theory; and he has long taken a close interest in problems of mathematics education, having been Chairman of the United States Commission on Mathematics Instruction. He has been First Vice President of the MAA. He and Jean Pedersen have published four books and over 100 articles together since they began their collaboration in 1978, and are currently writing their fifth book.

Brief Biography of Jean Pedersen
Jean Pedersen is Professor of Mathematics at Santa Clara University. She began her real study of mathematics with George Polya in 1969, visitng him and his wife Stella weekly at their home from then until his death in 1985. Her main mathematical interests are polyhedral geometry, number theory and combinatorics. In 1978 she was asked by the MAA to arrange for Peter Hilton and George Polya to present a special session on the teaching of mathematics. The rest (see above) is history! She is a past Governor of the Northern California section of the MAA and, in 1997, she received the Section's award for Distinguished Teaching.

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http://www.wmich.edu/math-stat/seminars/hilton.html
Last modified: March 17, 2000