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Collaborative Group for Research in Mathematics Education
What is experimental mathematics?
Experimental mathematics is systematic experimentation in mathematical domains - to do with number, space and arrangement. It is to be distinguished from "applied mathematics" in which certain approximations to real-world problems are made.
Experimental mathematics is not antithetical to mathematical proof. To the contrary, the point of experimental mathematics is to experiment in mathematical domains to acsertain what might be true, and what experimental evidence can be brought to bear on certain issues or problems. Experimental mathematics is what many practising mathematicians carry out before they
In this sense experimental mathematics is the "behind-the-scenes" part of mathematics that never appears in the text-books or journals (until very recently) but which is important in getting a handle on mathematical knowledge - in ascertaining what is likely to be true and what is not.