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There has been a recent surge of interest in mathematical explanations of empirical facts. A number of putative cases of such explanation have been identified, and used to provide support for an explanatory version of the indispensability argument for mathematical platonism. In this paper, I consider the prospects for developing a metaphysically light-weight theory of mathematical explanations by appealing to the resources currently available in existing work on applied mathematics and scientific explanation. I argue that new resources must be marshalled to handle the mathematical case, and sketch out one option for doing so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the properties of coevolution were analysed and presented as a promising avenue to investigate the interaction between institutions and scientific organizations, which has implications for the development of scientific fields and public scientific policies. These properties were used to analyse the interaction between the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA) and national and international institutions from 1951 to 2019. The findings reveal that if an area of knowledge is weak in a country, it can develop through different institutional actions by interested parties such as researchers. The institutional agency of IMPA researchers has functioned as an element that feeds coevolutionary dynamics. This dynamic has caused changes in the IMPA (micro-level), scientific community (meso-level), and governmental institutions and civil society (macro-level). This study's main contribution is the cross-fertilization of coevolution with the agency approach of institutional theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the relationship between fictionalist nominalism and applied mathematics. Topics discussed include an argument based on applied mathematics against nominalism simpliciter and a modification of an argument that is directed specifically against fictionalist nominalism. Also discussed are the rectangular-surface/paint-can numerical requirement principle and the first adjectival-nominal correspondence principle.