A Budget of Paradoxes is the mathematician Augustus De Morgan’s witty and learned survey of intellectual eccentrics: the circle-squarers, perpetual-motion seekers, and self-appointed reformers of science whose pamphlets crossed his desk. Compiled from his library of “paradoxers,” the book is part bibliography, part comedy, and part serious reflection on how knowledge goes astray.
De Morgan brings to the task a sharp logical mind and a generous sense of humour, gently exposing fallacious reasoning while honouring the human impulse to think for oneself. Along the way he offers shrewd observations on probability, the history of mathematics, and the difference between genuine discovery and self-deception. This first volume is a delightful classic of scientific skepticism, beloved by readers who enjoy the history of error as much as the history of truth.