Editing Experimental mathematics (section)

{{for|the mathematical journal of the same name|Experimental Mathematics (journal)}}
'''Experimental mathematics''' is an approach to [[mathematics]] in which computation is used to investigate mathematical objects and identify properties and patterns.<ref>{{Mathworld|urlname=ExperimentalMathematics|title=Experimental Mathematics}}</ref> It has been defined as "that branch of mathematics that concerns itself ultimately with the codification and transmission of insights within the mathematical community through the use of experimental (in either the Galilean, Baconian, Aristotelian or Kantian sense) exploration of [[conjecture]]s and more informal beliefs and a careful analysis of the data acquired in this pursuit."<ref>[http://oldweb.cecm.sfu.ca/organics/vault/expmath/expmath/html/node16.html Experimental Mathematics: A Discussion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080121081424/http://oldweb.cecm.sfu.ca/organics/vault/expmath/expmath/html/node16.html |date=2008-01-21 }} by J. Borwein, P. Borwein, R. Girgensohn and S. Parnes</ref>

As expressed by [[Paul Halmos]]: "Mathematics is not a [[deductive science]]—that's a cliché. When you try to prove a theorem, you don't just list the [[Premise|hypotheses]], and then start to reason. What you do is [[trial and error]], experimentation, guesswork. You want to find out what the facts are, and what you do is in that respect similar to what a laboratory technician does."<ref>''I Want to be a Mathematician: An Automathography'' (1985), p. 321 (in 2013 reprint)</ref>