Cultures of Proving

Abstract

Although studies of scientific practice are now common, relatively little attention has been given to the technical detail of the social objects of the sciences. That detail, and the ordinariness of that detail, establish the legitimacy of practitioners' work and make that work recognizable as the work of a discovering science. In particular, the close examination of mathematical proofs exhibits the embeddedness of mathematics within a surrounding culture of proving, and leads to an appreciation of what it means to be a member of such a culture and to be engaged in the work of doing mathematics.