ABSTRACT
From my older brother I learned that there were positive numbers and negative numbers. I learned that there was something called x and I had no trouble at all comprehending what x was. The number or symbol x was an amphibian. Sometimes it was the mystery number that had to be unmasked and identified with an ordinary number. Sometimes it was just plain x, and all one had to do with it were sensible things like x plus x equals two x. Was this an instance of Formalism?
