What a coincidence! There is article about mathematics in the science
section of todays The New York Times. The title --> Useful Invention or
Absolute Truth: What is Math. Starts by asking "why does the universe
appear to follow mathematical laws?" Gives references to recent books
on the subject, goes back to Pythagoras and Plato and to Wigner who wrote
that the failure to explain rationally the "unreasonable effectivness of
mathematics" is an enormous gap in human understanding. Was mathethematics
invented (Plato) or was it discovered? Oop, too late to correct. Plato
claimed mathematics existed before humans, it was discovered, modern
anti-Platonists claim it was invented by us, as byproduct of experience.