A Budget of Paradoxes is a collection of essays by the mathematician Augustus De Morgan, drawn largely from his writings in the Athenaeum. It explores paradoxes, errors, and eccentric claims in mathematics, science, and learning, treating orthodox and heterodox ideas with wit and critical scrutiny. It offers a lively historical view of how unusual arguments were made and examined.
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Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected. They appear in the text like this, and the explanation will appear when the mouse pointer is moved over the marked passage. BY AUGUSTUS DE MORGAN A BUDGET OF PARADOXES REPRINTED WITH THE AUTHOR'S ADDITIONS FROM THE ATHENAEUM SECOND EDITION EDITED BY DAVID EUGENE SMITH WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY ERNEST NAGEL PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY UNABRIDGED EDITION—TWO VOLUMES BOUND AS ONE Volume I DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC., NEW YORK PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. (1872) It is not without hesitation that I have taken upon myself the editorship of a work left avowedly imperfect by the author, and, from its miscellaneous and discursive character, difficult of completion with due regard to editorial limitations by a less able hand. Had the author lived to carry out his purpose he would have looked through his Budget again, amplifying and
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