info prev up next book cdrom email home

Analogy

Inference of the Truth of an unknown result obtained by noting its similarity to a result already known to be True. In the hands of a skilled mathematician, analogy can be a very powerful tool for suggesting new and extending old results. However, subtleties can render results obtained by analogy incorrect, so rigorous Proof is still needed.

See also Induction




© 1996-9 Eric W. Weisstein
1999-05-25