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Abstract
The prevailing image of mathematical writing is formal and impersonal, reflecting an absolutist view of the nature of mathematics. This paper challenges this image. Analysis of texts written by research mathematicians shows that they include different kinds of representations of the human activity of doing mathematics. Genres of school mathematics writing are discussed in the light of this analysis and it is suggested that knowledge of the ways in which mathematicians include their problem solving activity in their writing might be used to support students as they learn to write reports of their own investigative work.