Thoughitstitle"IntegralGeometry"mayappearsomewhatunusualinthiscontextitisneverthelessquiteappropriate,forIntegralGeometryisanoutgrowthofwhatintheoldendayswasreferredtoas"geometricprobabil-ities." Originating,aslegendhasit,withtheBuffonneedleproblem(whichafternearlytwocenturieshaslostlittleofitseleganceandappeal),geometricprobabilitieshaverunintodifficultiesculminatingintheparadoxesofBertrandwhichthreatenedthefledglingfieldwithbanishmentfromthehomeofMathematics.Inrescuingitfromthisfate,Poincar6madethesuggestionthatthearbitrarinessofdefinitionunderlyingtheparadoxescouldberemovedbytyingcloserthedefinitionofprobabilitywithageometricgroupofwhichitwouldhavetobeaninvariant.
本书分6章论述了数学与教育的关系,数学的重要性,数学教育的重要性以及数学对于教育的特殊性,进而阐明了数学所具有的一系列文化教育功能——数学的自然科学教育功能,社会科学教育功能,人文科学教育功能与思维教育功能。 作者在书中提出了许多自己的新观点,并作了精辟的论述。