Category Theory Explains a Common Oversight in Everyday Mathematics, Study Finds

Mathematicians routinely treat different product constructions—like (𝐴×𝐵) × 𝐶(A×B)×C and 𝐴× (𝐵×𝐶)A×(B×C)—as identical, even though they’re only isomorphic. This piece explores how universal properties, monoidal structures, and the pentagon axiom resolve these ambiguities, and why relying on “obvious” identifications can make foundational arguments incomplete.