PRAGMATIC INSIGHTS FROM THE EXPERTS

"A great discovery solves a great problem but there is a grain of discovery in the solution of any problem. Your problem may be modest; but if it challenges your curiosity & brings into play your inventive faculties, & if you solve it by your own means, you may experience the tension & enjoy the triumph of discovery. Such experiences at a susceptible age may create a taste for mental work & leave their imprint on mind & character for a lifetime."

~ Hungarian mathematician George Pólya (1887-1985), who conceptualised the problem solving process & captured it in the famous book “How To Solve It”;

[In his book, Pólya enumerates four phases a problem solver has to go through:

- First, we need to understand the problem, and clarify any doubts about the problem statement if necessary;

- Second, we need to find the connection between the data and the unknown, to make out a plan for the solution. Auxiliary problems might be created in the process;

- Third, we are to carry out our plan, checking the validity of each step;

- Finally, we have to review the solution;]