原文开头
Sneaky maths A trick to solving problems without answering them brought mathematicians to blows 100 years ago, but it’s now a common part of maths, discovers Jacob Aron A MATHEMATICIAN opens her office door to find a small fire. Without panicking, she looks around the room and spots a fire extinguisher. “Ah, a solution exists!” she says, before closing the door and continuing on with her day. Simply knowing it is possible to extinguish the fire is proof enough that the problem can be solved – why bother to actually do it? This old joke sums up how a lot of modern mathematics gets done, thanks to a sneaky tactic for problem-solving: the non- constructive proof. …
摘自《新科学家》(New Scientist)第3605期 · 2026年7月25日,Jacob Aron。仅引用开头一小段供了解文章,版权归原刊所有,全文请阅读原刊。