Thanks for all the superb comments. Indeed, it is noted that the heavyweights have been mentioned, notably Poincare, Hadamard, Archimedes, and others. The great Albert Einstein, who used thought experiments to both pose and then solve problems should be included. These were the true problem creators and solvers in history. History is dotted with great problems solvers in almost every genre, though their methods were not always known. When the "prince" of mathematicians, Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777 – 1855) , was asked why it was unclear how he constructed his marvelous solutions and theories, he responded that he wished not to leave the scaffolding apparent. Henry James (1843 – 1916), an American philosopher, anticipated some of this with his pragmatic philosophy by which the solution (i.e. recourse) that works is the solution to accept. Let me sketch a bit on problems, pre-problems, solutions, sub-solutions, pre-solutions, and problem determination. From these
Random thoughts and used ideas