Essays in Constructive Mathematics

He [Kronecker] was, in fact, attempting to describe and to initiate a new branch of mathematics, which would contain both number theory and alge­ braic geometry as special cases.—Andre Weil [62] This book is about mathematics, not the history or philosophy of mathemat­ ics. Still, history and philosophy were prominent among my motives for writing it, and historical and philosophical issues will be major factors in determining whether it wins acceptance. Most mathematicians prefer constructive me