Editing Mathematical practice (section)

[[File:Woman teaching geometry.jpg|thumb|right|The [[axiomatic method]] of ''[[Euclid's Elements]]'' was influential in the development of Western science.<ref>{{citation |work=The Oxford Handbook of the History of Mathematics |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |year=2009 |isbn=9780199213122 |author=GER Lloyd |title=What was mathematics in the ancient world? Greek and Chinese perspectives |page=12}}</ref>]] 
'''Mathematical practice''' comprises the working practices of professional [[mathematician]]s: selecting [[theorem]]s to prove, using informal notations to persuade themselves and others that various steps in the final proof are convincing, and seeking [[peer review]] and [[publication]], as opposed to the end result of [[mathematical proof|proven]] and published [[theorem]]s.

[[Philip Kitcher]] has proposed a more formal definition of a mathematical practice, as a quintuple. His intention was primarily to document mathematical practice through its historical changes.<ref name="Ernest1998">{{cite book|last=Ernest|first=Paul|title=Social Constructivism as a Philosophy of Mathematics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TYeEjbRSAvQC&pg=PA139|accessdate=19 September 2018|year=1998|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=9780791435885|page=139}}</ref>