Extreme proofs. I: The irrationality of \(\sqrt 2\) (Q384409)

The authors introduce the concept of ``extreme proofs'' and present various such proofs for the irrationality of \(\sqrt{2}\), among them proofs by folding (which is extreme because they are purely geometrical), by the theory of even and odd integers (which is extreme because it depends on the simplest concepts), or by analytic methods (which is extreme because it is the most general proof and is ``surprising'').