How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method

Heuristic- the study of the methods and rules of discovery and invention- has until our time been a largely neglected, almost forgotten, branch of learning. The disputed province of logic or philosophy or psychology, it tries to understand the process of solving problems and its typical mental operations. Today heuristic is undergoing a revival whose impetus is provided largely by Professor G. Polya's unique How to Solve It, the outstanding modern contribution to the study of problem solving. Though Professor Polya, an eminent mathematician, uses specific examples taken largely from geometry, his principal aim is to teach a method which can be applied to the solution of other problems, more or less technical. The particular solution of a particular problem is, for his purposes, of minor importance. The approach used in heuristic reasoning is constant regardless of its subject and can be expressed in simple but incisive questions. The "Short Dictionary of Heuristic" included in How to Solve It supplies the history, techniques, and terminology of heuristic with brilliant precision. For the Anchor Second Edition, Professor Polya has added a new concluding section of nineteenth Problems, Hints, and Solutions.