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It seems that mathematical ideas are arranged somehow in strata, the ideas in each stratum being linked by a complex of relations both among themselves and with those above and below. The lower the stratum, the deeper (and in general more difficult) the idea. Thus the idea of an __rrational_ is deeper than that of an integer; and Pythagoras__ theorem is, for that reason, deeper than Euclid__.
G.H. Hardy A Mathematician's Apology
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It seems that mathematical ideas are arranged somehow in strata, the ideas in each stratum being linked by a complex of relations both among themselves and with those above and below. The lower the stratum, the deeper (and in general more difficult) the idea. Thus the idea of an __rrational_ is deeper than that of an integer; and Pythagoras__ theorem is, for that reason, deeper than Euclid__.
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G.H. Hardy

A Mathematician's Apology

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