One service mathematics has rendered the 'Et moi, ..., si j'avait su
comment en revenir, je n'y serais point aIle: ' human race. It has put
common sense back Jules Verne where it belongs, on the topmost shelf
next to the dusty canister labelled 'discarded non- The series is
divergent; therefore we may be sense'. able to do something with it.
Eric T. Bell O. Heaviside Mathematics is a tool for thought. A highly
necessary tool in a world where both feedback and non- linearities
abound. Similarly, all kinds of parts of mathematics serve as tools for
other parts and for other sciences. Applying a simple rewriting rule to
the quote on the right above one finds such statements as: 'One service
topology has rendered mathematical physics ... '; 'One service logic has
rendered com- puter science .. .'; 'One service category theory has
rendered mathematics ... '. All arguably true. And all statements
obtainable this way form part of the raison d'elre of this series.