Abstract
We met the equation x 2 = 2 in the context of the Muddy Yard model, trying to determine the length of the diagonal of a square with side length 1.
He is unworthy of the name man who is ignorant of the fact that the diagonal of a square is incommensurable with its side. (Plato)
Just as the introduction of the irrational number is a convenient myth which simplifies the laws of arithmetics... so physical objects are postulated entities which round out and simplify our account of the flux of existence... The conceptual scheme of physical objects is likewise a convenient myth, simpler than the literal truth and yet containing that literal truth as a scattered part. (Quine)
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© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Eriksson, K., Estep, D., Johnson, C. (2004). The Square Root of Two. In: Applied Mathematics: Body and Soul. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-05796-4_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-05796-4_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-05659-8
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