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Mathematics is generally considered as a science: it is mathematical intervention that decisively confers the title "science" on any intellectual discipline. However it does stand a little apart from other sciences as the very title "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" indicates. In fact it stands apart from them among bother things, in its sources of inspiration and in the way it has evolved over the years. In these aspects it is in fact closer to the arts than to the sciences. In this talk I will highlight these aspects which would seem to suggest that mathematics rightfully belongs in the domain of art even as it has a secure place among the sciences: the practitioner of the "art" of mathematics is more comfortable in the milieu of science rather than in the company of artists. |