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A paradoxer mistakes private conviction for mathematical proof

Scientific discovery and crackpot theory both begin by challenging established consensus. The true discoverer submits their novelty to the test of proof and accepts the outcome, whereas the paradoxer treats unverified intuition as self-evident truth. Augustus De Morgan collects centuries of these eccentric thinkers to trace how mathematical delusion takes root.

Circle squarers reject formal logic to protect their personal ratios

James Smith of Liverpool published endless treatises asserting that the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter is exactly twenty-five divided by eight. When presented with rigorous geometric demonstration showing pi is incommensurable, Smith insisted formal proof was a conspiracy. Obsessive focus on a single flawed calculation leads the paradoxer to abandon all broader mathematical coherence.

Mechanical cranks confuse physical impossibility with an unsolved puzzle

Perpetual motion devices and geometric angle trisections rely on ignoring the foundational axioms of physical work and Euclidean geometry. Inventors design elaborate levers and wheels, convinced that added mechanical complexity can bypass the conservation of energy. These schemes persist because their creators evaluate machines by visual imagination rather than mathematical necessity.

Book

A Budget of Paradoxes

An examination of mathematical cranks, circle-squarers, and the nature of scientific delusion.

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