Search for mathematical proof in the Web environment as a process of creative collective discovery

Abstract

Although cooperation and collective efforts have always played an important role in the process of scientific discovery, recent technological innovations, such as the Internet, facilitate and encourage cooperation and collective effort to an unprecedented degree. This applies to all fields of science, even mathematics, where the process of mathematical discovery has traditionally been considered as an individual affair. This perspective requires new research on the theoretical level, and reveals the importance of various aspects of the process of scientific discovery in relation to the issues of problem solving, discovery and creativity, which have not been studied sufficiently.