Mathematical Quotations

Abel, Niels H. (1802 - 1829) If you disregard the very simplest cases, there is in all of mathematics not a single infinite series whose sum has been rigorously determined. In other words,the most important parts of mathematics stand without a foundation. In G. F. Simmons, Calculus Gems, New York !cgraw "ill, Inc., #$$%, p. #&&. Abel, Niels H. (1802 - 1829) [A reply to a question about how he got his expertise:] 'y studying the masters and not their pupils. Abel, Niels H. (1802 - 1829) [About Gauss' mathematical writing style] "e is like the fo(, who effaces his tracks in the sand with his tail. In G. F. Simmons, Calculus Gems, New York !cgraw "ill, Inc., #$$%, p. #)). Adams, Dou las (19!2 - 2001) 'istromathics itself is simply a revolutionary new way of understanding the behavior of numbers. *ust as +instein observed that space was not an absolute but depended on the observer,s movement in space, and that time was not an absolute, but depended on the observer,s movement in time, so it is now reali-ed that numbers are not absolute, but depend on the observer,s movement in restaurants. Life, the ni!erse an" #!erything$ New York "armony 'ooks, #$&%. Adams, Dou las (19!2 - 2001) .he first nonabsolute number is the number of people for whom the table is reserved. .his will vary during the course of the first three telephone calls to the restaurant, and then bear no apparent relation to the number of people who actually turn up, or to the number of people who subse/uently 0oin them after the show1match1party1gig, or to the number of people who leave when they see who else has turned up. .he second nonabsolute number is the given time of arrival, which is now known to be one of the most bi-arre of mathematical concepts, a recipriverse(cluson, a number whose e(istence can only be defined as being anything other than itself. In other words, the given time of arrival is the one moment of time at which it is impossible that any member of the party will arrive. 2ecipriverse(clusons now play a vital part in many branches of math, including statistics and accountancy and also form the basic e/uations used to engineer the Somebody +lse,s 3roblem field. .he third and most mysterious piece of nonabsoluteness of all lies in the relationship between the number of items on the bill, the cost of each item, the number of people at the table and what they are each prepared to pay for. 4.he number of people who have actually brought any money is only a subphenomenon of this field.5 Life, the ni!erse an" #!erything$ New York "armony 'ooks, #$&%. Adams, Dou las (19!2 - 2001) Numbers written on restaurant bills within the confines of restaurants do not follow the same mathematical laws as numbers written on any other pieces of paper in any other parts of the 6niverse. .his single statement took the scientific world by storm. It completely revolutioni-ed it. So many mathematical conferences got held in such good restaurants that many of the finest minds of a generation died of obesity and heart failure and the science of math was put back by years. Life, the ni!erse an" #!erything$ New York "armony 'ooks, #$&%. Adams, "ohn (1#$! - 182%) I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. !y sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography,

natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain. 7etter to 8bigail 8dams, !ay #%, #)&9. Adle&, Al'&ed +ach generation has its few great mathematicians, and mathematics would not even notice the absence of the others. .hey are useful as teachers, and their research harms no one, but it is of no importance at all. 8 mathematician is great or he is nothing. :!athematics and ;reativity.: %he &ew 'or(er )aga*ine, February #$, #$)%. Adle&, Al'&ed .he mathematical life of a mathematician is short. <ork rarely improves after the age of twenty=five or thirty. If little has been accomplished by then, little will ever be accomplished. :!athematics and ;reativity.: %he &ew 'or(er )aga*ine, February #$, #$)%. Adle&, Al'&ed In the company of friends, writers can discuss their books, economists the state of the economy, lawyers their latest cases, and businessmen their latest ac/uisitions, but mathematicians cannot discuss their mathematics at all. 8nd the more profound their work, the less understandable it is. 2eflections mathematics and creativity, &ew 'or(er, (#4#$)%5, no. >?, ?$ = @>. Ai)en, *on&ad [At a musical concert:] ...the music,s pure algebra of enchantment. Allen, +ood, Standard mathematics has recently been rendered obsolete by the discovery that for years we have been writing the numeral five backward. .his has led to reevaluation of counting as a method of getting from one to ten. Students are taught advanced concepts of 'oolean algebra, and formerly unsolvable e/uations are dealt with by threats of reprisals. In "oward +ves, +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber, and Schmidt, #$&&. An lin, +.-. !athematics is not a careful march down a well=cleared highway, but a 0ourney into a strange wilderness, where the e(plorers often get lost. 2igour should be a signal to the historian that the maps have been made, and the real e(plorers have gone elsewhere. :!athematics and "istory:, )athematical ,ntelligencer, v. @, no. @. Anon,mous If thou art able, A stranger, to find out all these things and gather them together in your mind, giving all the relations, thou shalt depart crowned with glory and knowing that thou hast been ad0udged perfect in this species of wisdom. In Ivor .homas :Greek !athematics: in *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Anon,mous Cefendit numerus .here is safety in numbers. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B, p. #@>%. Anon,mous 7ike the crest of a peacock so is mathematics at the head of all knowledge. D8n old Indian saying. 8lso, :Li(e the Crest of a .eacoc(: is the title of a book by G.G. *osephE

Anon,mous 2eferee,s report .his paper contains much that is new and much that is true. 6nfortunately, that which is true is not new and that which is new is not true. In ".+ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber, and Schmidt, #$&&. A&buthnot, "ohn .he 2eader may here observe the Force of Numbers, which can be successfully applied, even to those things, which one would imagine are sub0ect to no 2ules. .here are very few things which we know, which are not capable of being reduc,d to a !athematical 2easoningF and when they cannot it,s a sign our knowledge of them is very small and confus,dF and when a !athematical 2easoning can be had it,s as great a folly to make use of any other, as to grope for a thing in the dark, when you have a ;andle standing by you. /f the Laws of Chance. 4#B$%5 A&isto.hanes (ca ((( - $80 /*) !eton <ith the straight ruler I set to work .o make the circle four=cornered DFirst4G5 allusion to the problem of s/uaring the circleE A&istotle (ca $$0 /*) Now that practical skills have developed enough to provide ade/uately for material needs, one of these sciences which are not devoted to utilitarian ends DmathematicsE has been able to arise in +gypt, the priestly caste there having the leisure necessary for disinterested research. )etaphysica, 01230b A&istotle (ca $$0 /*) .he whole is more than the sum of its parts. )etaphysica 04f10456a A&istotle .he so=called 3ythagoreans, who were the first to take up mathematics, not only advanced this sub0ect, but saturated with it, they fancied that the principles of mathematics were the principles of all things. )etaphysica 016 A&istotle It is not once nor twice but times without number that the same ideas make their appearance in the world. :An .he "eavens:, in .. 7. "eath )anual of Gree( )athematics, A(ford A(ford 6niversity 3ress, #$?#. A&istotle .o .hales the primary /uestion was not what do we know, but how do we know it. )athematical ,ntelligencer v. B, no. ?, #$&@. A&istotle .he mathematical sciences particularly e(hibit order, symmetry, and limitationF and these are the greatest forms of the beautiful. )etaphysica, 710483b$ Ascham, 0o e& (1!1!-1!%8) !ark all mathematical heads which be wholly and only bent on these sciences, how solitary they be themselves, how unfit to live with others, how unapt to serve the world. In + G 2 .aylor, )athematical .ractitioners of %u"or an" 9tuart #nglan", ;ambridge ;ambridge 6niversity 3ress, #$>@. Aub&e,, "ohn (1%2%-1%9#) D8bout .homas "obbes E "e was @9 years old before he looked on geometryF which happened accidentally.

'eing in a gentleman,s library, +uclid,s +lements lay open, and :twas the @) +l. libri I: D3ythagoras, .heoremE. "e read the proposition :'y God:, sayd he, :this is impossible : So he reads the demonstration of it, which referred him back to such a propositionF which proposition he read. .hat referred him back to another, which he also read. #t sic "einceps, that at last he was demonstratively convinced of that trueth. .his made him in love with geometry. In A. 7. Cick 4ed.5 :rief Li!es, A(ford A(ford 6niversity 3ress, #$B9, p. B9@. Auden, +. H. (190#-19#$) "ow happy the lot of the mathematician. "e is 0udged solely by his peers, and the standard is so high that no colleague or rival can ever win a reputation he does not deserve. %he ;yer's <an", 7ondon Faber H Faber, #$@&. Auden, +. H. (190#-19#$) .hou shalt not answer /uestionnaires Ar /ui--es upon world affairs, Nor with compliance .ake any test. .hou shalt not sit with statisticians nor commit 8 social science. :6nder which lyre: in Collecte" .oems of - < Au"en, 7ondon Faber and Faber. Au a&ten, -tan ;omputers are composed of nothing more than logic gates stretched out to the hori-on in a vast numerical irrigation system. 9tate of the Art: A .hotographic <istory of the ,ntegrate" Circuit. New York .icknor and Fields. -t. Au ustine ($!(-($0) Si( is a number perfect in itself, and not because God created the world in si( daysF rather the contrary is true. God created the world in si( days because this number is perfect, and it would remain perfect, even if the work of the si( days did not e(ist. %he City of Go"$ -t. Au ustine ($!(-($0) .he good ;hristian should beware of mathematicians, and all those who make empty prophecies. .he danger already e(ists that the mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of "ell. CeGenesi a" Litteram, :oo( ,,, x!iii, 78 DNote mathematician I astrologerE -t. Au ustine ($!(-($0) If I am given a formula, and I am ignorant of its meaning, it cannot teach me anything, but if I already know it what does the formula teach meG ;e )agistro ch =, >7$ /abba e, *ha&les (1#92-18#1) +rrors using inade/uate data are much less than those using no data at all. /abba e, *ha&les (1#92-18#1) An two occasions I have been asked Dby members of 3arliamentE, ,3ray, !r. 'abbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come outG, I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a /uestion. /abba e, *ha&les (1#92-18#1) I wish to God these calculations had been e(ecuted by steam. In ". +ves ,n )athematical Circles,, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$B$. /acon, -i& 1&ancis (1!%1-1%2%) 8nd as for !i(ed !athematics, I may only make this prediction, that there cannot fail

to be more kinds of them, as nature grows further disclosed. A"!ancement of Learning book %F ;e Augmentis book ?. /acon, 0o e& For the things of this world cannot be made known without a knowledge of mathematics. /pus )a?us part @ ;istinctia .rima cap 0, #%B). /acon, 0o e& In the mathematics I can report no deficience, e(cept that it be that men do not sufficiently understand the e(cellent use of the pure mathematics, in that they do remedy and cure many defects in the wit and faculties intellectual. For if the wit be too dull, they sharpen itF if too wandering, they fi( itF if too inherent in the sense, they abstract it. So that as tennis is a game of no use in itself, but of great use in respect it maketh a /uick eye and a body ready to put itself into all posturesF so in the mathematics, that use which is collateral and intervenient is no less worthy than that which is principal and intended. *ohn Fauvel and *eremy Gray 4eds.5 A <istory of )athematics: A +ea"er, Sheridan "ouse, #$&). /a)e&, H. 1. DAn the concept of group E ... what a wealth, what a grandeur of thought may spring from what slightbeginnings. Florian ;a0ori, A <istory of )athematics, New York, #$#$, p %&?. /a ehot, +alte& 7ife is a school of probability. Juoted in *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, Simon and Schuster, New York,#$>B, p. #?B9. /al2ac, Hono&e de (1#99 - 18!0) Numbers are intellectual witnesses that belong only to mankind. /an3ille, "ohn .hroughout the #$B9s and #$)9s devoted 'eckett readers greeted each successively shorter volume from the master with a mi(ture of awe and apprehensivenessF it was like watching a great mathematician wielding an infinitesimal calculus, his e/uations approaching nearer and still nearer to the null point. Juoted in a review of Samuel 'eckett,s &ohow /n: ,00 9een ,00 9ai", -orstwar" <o, in %he &ew 'or( +e!iew of :oo(s, 8ugust #?, #$$%. /ell, 4&ic 5em.le (188$-19%0) +uclid taught me that without assumptions there is no proof. .herefore, in any argument, e(amine the assumptions. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles$, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. /ell, 4&ic 5em.le (188$-19%0) <herever groups disclosed themselves, or could be introduced, simplicity crystalli-ed out of comparative chaos. )athematics, @ueen an" 9er!ant of 9cience, New York, #$>#, p #B@. /ell, 4&ic 5em.le (188$-19%0) It is the perennial youthfulness of mathematics itself which marks it off with a disconcerting immortality from the other sciences. /ell, 4&ic 5em.le (188$-19%0) .he "andmaiden of the Sciences. D'ook by that title.E /ell, 4&ic 5em.le (188$-19%0) 8bstractness, sometimes hurled as a reproach at mathematics, is its chief glory and its surest title to practical usefulness. It is also the source of such beauty as may spring from mathematics.

/ell, 4&ic 5em.le (188$-19%0) Guided only by their feeling for symmetry, simplicity, and generality, and an indefinable sense of the fitness of things, creative mathematicians now, as in the past, are inspired by the art of mathematics rather than by any prospect of ultimate usefulness. /ell, 4&ic 5em.le (188$-19%0) :Abvious: is the most dangerous word in mathematics. /ell, 4&ic 5em.le (188$-19%0) .he pursuit of pretty formulas and neat theorems can no doubt /uickly degenerate into a silly vice, but so can the /uest for austere generalities which are so very general indeed that they are incapable of application to any particular. In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. /ell, 4&ic 5em.le (188$-19%0) If a lunatic scribbles a 0umble of mathematical symbols it does not follow that the writing means anything merely because to the ine(pert eye it is indistinguishable from higher mathematics. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B, p. ?9&. /ell, 4&ic 5em.le (188$-19%0) .he longer mathematics lives the more abstract == and therefore, possibly also the more practical == it becomes. In %he )athematical ,ntelligencer, vol. #?, no. #, <inter #$$#. /ell, 4&ic 5em.le (188$-19%0) .he cowboys have a way of trussing up a steer or a pugnacious bronco which fi(es the brute so that it can neither move nor think. .his is the hog=tie, and it is what +uclid did to geometry. In 2 ;rayshaw=<illiams %he 9earch Aor %ruth, p. #$#. /ell, 4&ic 5em.le (188$-19%0) If :Number rules the universe: as 3ythagoras asserted, Number is merely our delegate to the throne, for we rule Number. In ". +ves )athematical Circles +e!isite", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)#. /ell, 4&ic 5em.le (188$-19%0) I have always hated machinery, and the only machine I ever understood was a wheelbarrow, and that but imperfectly. In ". +ves )athematical Circles A"ieu, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)). /elloc, Hillai&e (18#0-19!$) Statistics are the triumph of the /uantitative method, and the /uantitative method is the victory of sterility and death. %he 9ilence of the 9ea /entham, "e&em, (1#(8-18$2) A 7ogic born gatekeeper to the .emple of Science, victim of capricious destiny doomed hitherto to be the drudge of pedants come to the aid of thy master, 7egislation. In *. 'rowning 4ed.5 -or(s. /e&noulli, Daniel ...it would be better for the true physics if there were no mathematicians on earth. In %he )athematical ,ntelligencer, v. #?, no. #, <inter #$$#. /e&noulli, "ac6ues ("a)ob7) (1%!(-1#0!) I recogni-e the lion by his paw. D8fter reading an anonymous solution to a problem that he reali-ed was Newton,s solution.E In G. Simmons, Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill, #$$%, p. #?B.

/e&noulli, "ohann 'ut 0ust as much as it is easy to find the differential of a given /uantity, so it is difficult to find the integral of a given differential. !oreover, sometimes we cannot say with certainty whether the integral of a given /uantity can be found or not. /esico3itch, A.-. 8 mathematician,s reputation rests on the number of bad proofs he has given. In *. +. 7ittlewood A )athematician's )iscellany, !ethuen H ;o. 7td., #$>?. /la)e God forbid that .ruth should be confined to !athematical CemonstrationK &otes on +eynol"'s ;iscourses, c. #&9&. /la)e <hat is now proved was once only imagin,d. %he )arriage of <ea!en an" <ell, #)$9=?. /oh&, Niels Hen&i) Da3id (188!-19%2) 8n e(pert is a man who has made all the mistakes, which can be made, in a very narrow field. 5he /ible I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skillF but time and chance happeneth to them all. #cclesiastes$ /ol,ai, "8nos (1802 - 18%0) Aut of nothing I have created a strange new universe. D8 reference to the creation of a non=euclidean geometry.E /ol,ai, +ol' an (1##!-18!%) D.o son *Lnos E For God,s sake, please give it up. Fear it no less than the sensual passion, because it, too, may take up all your time and deprive you of your health, peace of mind and happiness in life. D'olyai,s father urging him to give up work on non=+uclidian geometry.E In 3. Cavis and 2. "ersh %he )athematical #xperience , 'oston "oughton !ifflin ;o., #$&#, p. %%9. /ou&ba)i Structures are the weapons of the mathematician. /&id man, 9. +. It is the merest truism, evident at once to unsophisticated observation, that mathematics is a human invention. %he Logic of )o"ern .hysics, New York, #$)%. /&o:n, ;eo& e -.ence& (192$ - ) .o arrive at the simplest truth, as Newton knew and practiced, re/uires years of contemplation. Not activity Not reasoning. Not calculating. Not busy behaviour of any kind. Not reading. Not talking. Not making an effort. Not thinking. Simply bearing in mind what it is one needs to know. 8nd yet those with the courage to tread this path to real discovery are not only offered practically no guidance on how to do so, they are actively discouraged and have to set abut it in secret, pretending meanwhile to be diligently engaged in the frantic diversions and to conform with the deadening personal opinions which are continually being thrust upon them. %he Laws of Aorm. #$B$. /&o:ne, -i& 5homas (1%0!-1%82) God is like a skilful Geometrician. +eligio )e"ici ,, #B.

/&o:ne, -i& 5homas (1%0!-1%82) 8ll things began in Arder, so shall they end, and so shall they begin again, according to the Ardainer of Arder, and the mystical mathematicks of the ;ity of "eaven. <y"riotaphia, rn1burial an" the Gar"en of Cyrus, #&$B. /&o:ne, -i& 5homas (1%0!-1%82) ...indeed what reason may not go to Schoole to the wisdome of 'ees, 8unts, and SpidersG what wise hand teacheth them to doe what reason cannot teach usG ruder heads stand ama-ed at those prodigious pieces of nature, <hales, +lephants, Cromidaries and ;amelsF these I confesse, are the ;olossus and !a0estick pieces of her handF but in these narrow +ngines there is more curious !athematicks, and the civilitie of these little ;iti-ens more neatly sets forth the wisedome of their !aker. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B, p. #99#. /uc), 9ea&l -. (1892 - 19#$) No one really understood music unless he was a scientist, her father had declared, and not 0ust a scientist, either, oh, no, only the real ones, the theoreticians, whose language mathematics. She had not understood mathematics until he had e(plained to her that it was the symbolic language of relationships. :8nd relationships,: he had told her, :contained the essential meaning of life.: %he Go""ess Abi"es, .t$ ,, #$)%. /u&)e, 4dmund .he age of chivalry is gone. .hat of sophisters, economists and calculators has succeeded. +eflections on the +e!olution in Arance. /utle&, /isho. .o us probability is the very guide of life. 3reface to Analogy. /utle&, -amuel (1%12 - 1%80) ... .here can be no doubt about faith and not reason being the ultima ratio. +ven +uclid, who has laid himself as little open to the charge of credulity as any writer who ever lived, cannot get beyond this. "e has no demonstrable first premise. "e re/uires postulates and a(ioms which transcend demonstration, and without which he can do nothing. "is superstructure indeed is demonstration, but his ground his faith. Nor again can he get further than telling a man he is a fool if he persists in differing from him. "e says :which is absurd,: and declines to discuss the matter further. Faith and authority, therefore, prove to be as necessary for him as for anyone else. %he -ay of All Alesh. /,&on <hen Newton saw an apple fall, he found ... 8 mode of proving that the earth turnd round In a most natural whirl, called gravitationF 8nd thus is the sole mortal who could grapple Since 8dam, with a fall or with an apple. *aballe&o, "ames I advise my students to listen carefully the moment they decide to take no more mathematics courses. They might be able to hear the sound of closing doors. Everybody a mathematician?,CAIP Quarterly 2 (Fall, 1 ! ". *a&dano, ;i&olamo (1!01 - 1!#%) .o throw in a fair game at "a-ards only three=spots, when something great is at stake, or some business is the ha-ard, is a natural occurrence and deserves to be so deemedF and even when they come up the same way for a second time if the throw be repeated. If the third and fourth plays are the same, surely there is occasion for

suspicion on the part of a prudent man. ;e Bita .ropria Liber$ *a&l,le, 5homas (1#9! - 1881) It is a mathematical fact that the casting of this pebble from my hand alters the centre of gravity of the universe. 9artor +esartus ,,,$ *a&l,le, 5homas (1#9!-1881) .eaching school is but another word for sure and not very slow destruction. In ". +ves ,n )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$B$. *a&l,le, 5homas (1#9!-1881) 8 witty statesman said, you might prove anything by figures. Chartism$ *a&&oll, <e:is <hat I tell you three times is true. %he <unting of the 9nar($ *a&&oll, <e:is .he different branches of 8rithmetic == 8mbition, Cistraction, 6glification, and Cerision. Alice in -on"erlan"$ *a&&oll, <e:is :;an you do additionG: the <hite Jueen asked. :<hat,s one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and oneG: :I don,t know,: said 8lice. :I lost count.: %hrough the Loo(ing Glass$ *a&&oll, <e:is :8lice laughed :.here,s no use trying,: she saidF :one can,t believe impossible things.: :I daresay you haven,t had much practice,: said the Jueen. :<hen I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. <hy, sometimes I,ve believed as many as si( impossible things before breakfast.: Alice in -on"erlan"$ *a&&oll, <e:is :.hen you should say what you mean,: the !arch "are went on. :I do, : 8lice hastily repliedF :at least I mean what I say, that,s the same thing, you know.: :Not the same thing a bitK: said the "atter. :<hy, you might 0ust as well say that :I see what I eat: is the same thing as :I eat what I seeK: Alice in -on"erlan"$ *a&&oll, <e:is :It,s very good 0am,: said the Jueen. :<ell, I don,t want any to=day, at any rate.: :You couldn,t have it if you did want it,: the Jueen said. :.he rule is 0am tomorrow and 0am yesterday but never 0am to=day.: :It must come sometimes to :0am to=day,::8lice ob0ected. :No it can,t,: said the Jueen. :It,s 0am every other dayF to=day isn,t any other day, you know.: :I don,t understand you,: said 8lice. :It,s dreadfully confusing.: %hrough the Loo(ing Glass$ *a&&oll, <e:is :<hen I use a word,: "umpty Cumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, :it means 0ust what I choose it to mean = neither more nor less.: :.he /uestion is,: said 8lice, :whether you can make words mean so many different

things.: :.he /uestion is,: said "umpty Cumpty, :which is to be master = that,s all.: %hrough the Loo(ing Glass$ *=line, <ouis-1e&dinand (189( - 19%1) #ntre le pCnis et les mathCmatiques$$$ il n'existe rien$ +ienD C'est le !i"e$ Boyage au bout "e la nuit$ 3aris Gallimard. *a&michael, 0. D. 8 thing is obvious mathematically after you see it. In N. 2ose 4ed.5 )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. *auch,, Au ustin-<ouis (1#89 - 18!#) !en pass away, but their deeds abide. D"is last words 4G5E In ". +ves )athematical Circles +e!iste", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)#. *a,le,, A&thu& 8s for everything else, so for a mathematical theory beauty can be perceived but not e(plained. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. *a,le,, A&thu& 3ro0ective geometry is all geometry. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. *=2anne, 9aul (18$9 - 190%) ...treat Nature by the sphere, the cylinder and the cone... *heb,she3 .o isolate mathematics from the practical demands of the sciences is to invite the sterility of a cow shut away from the bulls. In G. Simmons, Calculus Gems, New York !cgraw "ill, Inc., #$$%, page #$&. *he)o3, Anton (18%0 - 190() .here is no national science 0ust as there is no national multiplication tableF what is national is no longer science. In M. 3. 3onomarev )ysli o nau(e Eishine!, #$)?. *heste&ton, ;. >. (18#( - 19$%) 3oets do not go madF but chess=players do. !athematicians go mad, and cashiersF but creative artists very seldom. I am not, as will be seen, in any sense attacking logic I only say that this danger does lie in logic, not in imagination. /rtho"oxy ch. %. *heste&ton, ;. >. (18#( - 19$%) You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it. %he )an who was /rtho"ox$ #$B?. *heste&ton, ;. >. (18#( - 19$%) It isn,t that they can,t see the solution. It is that they can,t see the problem. %he .oint of a .in in %he 9can"al of Aather :rown$ *h&istie, A atha :I think you,re begging the /uestion,: said "aydock, :and I can see looming ahead one of those terrible e(ercises in probability where si( men have white hats and si( men have black hats and you have to work it out by mathematics how likely it is that the hats will get mi(ed up and in what proportion. If you start thinking about things like that, you would go round the bend. 7et me assure you of thatK: %he )irror Crac('"$ .oronto 'antam 'ooks, #$B%. *h&istie, A atha I continued to do arithmetic with my father, passing proudly through fractions to

decimals. I eventually arrived at the point where so many cows ate so much grass, and tanks filled with water in so many hours I found it /uite enthralling. An Autobiography$ *hu&chill, ?-i&@ +inston -.ence& (18#(-19%!) It is a good thing from an uneducated man to read books of /uotations. 2oving ;ommission in )y #arly Life. #$?9. *hu&chill, -i& +inston -.ence& (18#(-19%!) I had a feeling once about !athematics = that I saw it all. Cepth beyond depth was revealed to me = the 'yss and 8byss. I saw = as one might see the transit of Menus or even the 7ord !ayor,s Show = a /uantity passing through infinity and changing its sign from plus to minus. I saw e(actly why it happened and why the tergiversation was inevitable but it was after dinner and I let it go. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. *hu&chman, *. +. .he measure of our intellectual capacity is the capacity to feel less and less satisfied with our answers to better and better problems. In *.+. 7ittlewood A )athematician's )iscellany. !ethuen and ;o., 7td. #$>?. *octeau .he composer opens the cage door for arithmetic, the draftsman gives geometry its freedom. *ole&id e, -amuel 5a,lo& (1##2-18$() ...from the time of Nepler to that of Newton, and from Newton to "artley, not only all things in e(ternal nature, but the subtlest mysteries of life and organi-ation, and even of the intellect and moral being, were con0ured within the magic circle of mathematical formulae. %he %heory of Life$ *omte, Au uste (1#98-18!#) ;,este donc par l,Otude des mathOmati/ues, et seulement par elle, /ue l,on peut se faire une idOe 0uste et approfondie de ce /ue c,est /u,une science. Juoted by .. ". "u(ley in Aortnightly +e!iew, Mol. II, N.S. >. *on&ad, "ose.h Con,t talk to me of your 8rchimedes, lever. "e was an absentminded person with a mathematical imagination. !athematics commands all my respect, but I have no use for engines. Give me the right word and the right accent and I will move the world. 3reface to A .ersonal +ecor". *oolid e, "ulian <o:ell (18#$ - 19!() D6pon proving that the best betting strategy for :Gambler,s 2uin: was to bet all on the first trial.E It is true that a man who does this is a fool. I have only proved that a man who does anything else is an even bigger fool. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. *o.e&nicus, Nicholaus (1(#$-1!($) !athematics is written for mathematicians. ;e +e!olutionibus$ *&ic), 1&ancis Ha&&, *om.ton (191% - ) In my e(perience most mathematicians are intellectually la-y and especially dislike reading e(perimental papers. "e 42enO .hom5 seemed to have very strong biological intuitions but unfortunately of negative sign. -hat )a" .ursuit. 7ondon <eidenfeld and Nicolson, #$&&. *&o:e, Michael 2evolutions never occur in mathematics. <istoria )athematica. #$)>.

DAAlembe&t, "ean <e 0ond (1#1#-1#8$) *ust go on..and faith will soon return. D.o a friend hesitant with respect to infinitesimals.E In 3. *. Cavis and 2. "ersh %he )athematical #xperience, 'oston 'irkhPuser, #$&#. DAAlembe&t, "ean <e 0ond (1#1#-1#8$0 .hus metaphysics and mathematics are, among all the sciences that belong to reason, those in which imagination has the greatest role. I beg pardon of those delicate spirits who are detractors of mathematics for saying this .... .he imagination in a mathematician who creates makes no less difference than in a poet who invents.... Af all the great men of anti/uity, 8rchimedes may be the one who most deserves to be placed beside "omer. ;iscours .reliminaire "e L'#ncyclope"ie, .ome #, #$B). pp @) = @&. Dant2i .he mathematician may be compared to a designer of garments, who is utterly oblivious of the creatures whom his garments may fit. .o be sure, his art originated in the necessity for clothing such creatures, but this was long agoF to this day a shape will occasionally appear which will fit into the garment as if the garment had been made for it. .hen there is no end of surprise and delight. Dant2i Neither in the sub0ective nor in the ob0ective world can we find a criterion for the reality of the number concept, because the first contains no such concept, and the second contains nothing that is free from the concept. "ow then can we arrive at a criterionG Not by evidence, for the dice of evidence are loaded. Not by logic, for logic has no e(istence independent of mathematics it is only one phase of this multiplied necessity that we call mathematics. "ow then shall mathematical concepts be 0udgedG .hey shall not be 0udged. !athematics is the supreme arbiter. From its decisions there is no appeal. <e cannot change the rules of the game, we cannot ascertain whether the game is fair. <e can only study the player at his gameF not, however, with the detached attitude of a bystander, for we are watching our own minds at play. Da&:in, *ha&les +very new body of discovery is mathematical in form, because there is no other guidance we can have. In N. 2ose 4ed.5 )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. Da&:in, *ha&les !athematics seems to endow one with something like a new sense. In N. 2ose 4ed.5 )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. Da3is, 9hili. ". .he numbers are a catalyst that can help turn raving madmen into polite humans. In N. 2ose 4ed.5 )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. Da3is, 9hili. ". Ane of the endlessly alluring aspects of mathematics is that its thorniest parado(es have a way of blooming into beautiful theories. Numbe&, 9cientific American, %##, 4Sept. #$B@5, ># = >$. Da3is, 9hili. ". and He&sh, 0euben Ane began to hear it said that <orld <ar I was the chemists, war, <orld <ar II was the physicists, war, <orld <ar III 4may it never come5 will be the mathematicians, war. %he )athematical #xperience, 'oston 'irkhPuser, #$&#. Dehn, MaB !athematics is the only instructional material that can be presented in an entirely

undogmatic way. In %he )athematical ,ntelligencer, v. >, no. %, #$&?. De Mo& an, Au ustus (180%-18#1) D<hen asked about his age.E I was ( years old in the year (Q%. In ". +ves ,n )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$B$. De Mo& an, Au ustus (180%-18#1) It is easier to s/uare the circle than to get round a mathematician. In ". +ves ,n )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$B$. De Mo& an, Au ustus (180%-18#1) +very science that has thriven has thriven upon its own symbols logic, the only science which is admitted to have made no improvements in century after century, is the only one which has grown no symbols. %ransactions Cambri"ge .hilosophical 9ociety, vol. R, #&B@, p. #&@. Desca&tes, 0en= (1!9%-1%!0) Af all things, good sense is the most fairly distributed everyone thinks he is so well supplied with it that even those who are the hardest to satisfy in every other respect never desire more of it than they already have. ;iscours "e la )Ctho"e. #B?). Desca&tes, 0en= (1!9%-1%!0) +ach problem that I solved became a rule which served afterwards to solve other problems. ;iscours "e la )Ctho"e. #B?). Desca&tes, 0en= (1!9%-1%!0) If I found any new truths in the sciences, I can say that they follow from, or depend on, five or si( principal problems which I succeeded in solving and which I regard as so many battles where the fortunes of war were on my side. ;iscours "e la )Ctho"e. #B?). Desca&tes, 0en= (1!9%-1%!0) I concluded that I might take as a general rule the principle that all things which we very clearly and obviously conceive are true only observing, however, that there is some difficulty in rightly determining the ob0ects which we distinctly conceive. ;iscours "e la )Ctho"e. #B?). Desca&tes, 0en= (1!9%-1%!0) I thought the following four DrulesE would be enough, provided that I made a firm and constant resolution not to fail even once in the observance of them. .he first was never to accept anything as true if I had not evident knowledge of its being soF that is, carefully to avoid precipitancy and pre0udice, and to embrace in my 0udgment only what presented itself to my mind so clearly and distinctly that I had no occasion to doubt it. .he second, to divide each problem I e(amined into as many parts as was feasible, and as was re/uisite for its better solution. .he third, to direct my thoughts in an orderly wayF beginning with the simplest ob0ects, those most apt to be known, and ascending little by little, in steps as it were, to the knowledge of the most comple(F and establishing an order in thought even when the ob0ects had no natural priority one to another. 8nd the last, to make throughout such complete enumerations and such general surveys that I might be sure of leaving nothing out. ;iscours "e la )Ctho"e. #B?). Desca&tes, 0en= (1!9%-1%!0) .hese long chains of perfectly simple and easy reasonings by means of which geometers are accustomed to carry out their most difficult demonstrations had led me to fancy that everything that can fall under human knowledge forms a similar se/uenceF and that so long as we avoid accepting as true what is not so, and always preserve the right order of deduction of one thing from another, there can be nothing

too remote to be reached in the end, or to well hidden to be discovered. ;iscours "e la )Ctho"e. #B?). Desca&tes, 0en= (1!9%-1%!0) <hen writing about transcendental issues, be transcendentally clear. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems$ New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. Desca&tes, 0en= (1!9%-1%!0) If we possessed a thorough knowledge of all the parts of the seed of any animal 4e.g. man5, we could from that alone, be reasons entirely mathematical and certain, deduce the whole conformation and figure of each of its members, and, conversely if we knew several peculiarities of this conformation, we would from those deduce the nature of its seed. Desca&tes, 0en= (1!9%-1%!0) Cogito #rgo 9um. :I think, therefore I am.: ;iscours "e la )Ctho"e. #B?). Desca&tes, 0en= (1!9%-1%!0) I hope that posterity will 0udge me kindly, not only as to the things which I have e(plained, but also to those which I have intentionally omitted so as to leave to others the pleasure of discovery. La Geometrie. Desca&tes, 0en= (1!9%-1%!0) 3erfect numbers like perfect men are very rare. In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. Desca&tes, 0en= (1!9%-1%!0) omnia apu" me mathematica fiunt. <ith me everything turns into mathematics. Desca&tes, 0en= (1!9%-1%!0) It is not enough to have a good mind. .he main thing is to use it well. ;iscours "e la )Ctho"e. #B?). Desca&tes, 0en= (1!9%-1%!0) If you would be a real seeker after truth, you must at least once in your life doubt, as far as possible, all things. ;iscours "e la )Ctho"e. #B?). De -ua, 1. (19!%) Suppose we loosely define a religion as any discipline whose foundations rest on an element of faith, irrespective of any element of reason which may be present. Juantum mechanics for e(ample would be a religion under this definition. 'ut mathematics would hold the uni/ue position of being the only branch of theology possessing a rigorous demonstration of the fact that it should be so classified. In ". +ves ,n )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$B$. Dio.hantus D"is epitaph.E .his tomb hold Ciophantus 8h, what a marvelK 8nd the tomb tells scientifically the measure of his life. God vouchsafed that he should be a boy for the si(th part of his lifeF when a twelfth was added, his cheeks ac/uired a beardF "e kindled for him the light of marriage after a seventh, and in the fifth year after his marriage "e granted him a son. 8lasK late=begotten and miserable child, when he had reached the measure of half his father,s life, the chill grave took him. 8fter consoling his grief by this science of numbers for four years, he reached the end of his life. In Ivor .homas Gree( )athematics, in *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Di&ac, 9aul Ad&ien Mau&ice (1902- ) I think that there is a moral to this story, namely that it is more important to have

beauty in one,s e/uations that to have them fit e(periment. If Schroedinger had been more confident of his work, he could have published it some months earlier, and he could have published a more accurate e/uation. It seems that if one is working from the point of view of getting beauty in one,s e/uations, and if one has really a sound insight, one is on a sure line of progress. If there is not complete agreement between the results of one,s work and e(periment, one should not allow oneself to be too discouraged, because the discrepancy may well be due to minor features that are not properly taken into account and that will get cleared up with further development of the theory. 9cientific American, !ay #$B?. Di&ac, 9aul Ad&ien Mau&ice (1902- ) !athematics is the tool specially suited for dealing with abstract concepts of any kind and there is no limit to its power in this field. In 3. *. Cavis and 2. "ersh %he )athematical #xperience, 'oston 'irkhPuser, #$&#. Di&ac, 9aul Ad&ien Mau&ice (1902- ) In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. 'ut in poetry, it,s the e(act opposite. In ". +ves )athematical Circles A"ieu, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)). Dis&aeli, /enCamin .here are three kinds of lies lies, damned lies, and statistics. !ark .wain. Autobiography$ Donatus, Aelius ((th *entu&,) 3ereant /ui ante nos nostra di(erunt. :.o the devil with those who published before us.: DJuoted by St. *erome, his pupilE Do,le, -i& A&thu& *onan (18!9-19$0) Cetection is, or ought to be, an e(act sciences and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner. You have attempted to tinge it with romanticism, which produces much the same effect as if you worked a love story or an elopement into the fifth proposition of +uclid. %he 9ign of Aour$ Do,le, -i& A&thu& *onan (18!9-19$0) <hen you have eliminated the impossible, what ever remains, however improbable must be the truth. %he 9ign of Aour$ Do,le, -i& A&thu& *onan (18!9-19$0) From a drop of water a logician could predict an 8tlantic or a Niagara. A stu"y in 9carlet #$%$. Do,le, -i& A&thu& *onan (18!9-19$0) It is a capital mistake to theori-e before one has data. 9can"al in :ohemia$ D&,den, "ohn (1%$1-1#00) !ere poets are sottish as mere drunkards are, who live in a continual mist, without seeing or 0udging anything clearly. 8 man should be learned in several sciences, and should have a reasonable, philosophical and in some measure a mathematical head, to be a complete and e(cellent poet. &otes an" /bser!ations on %he #mpress of )orocco . #B)@. Dubos, 0en= ". Gauss replied, when asked how soon he e(pected to reach certain mathematical conclusions, that he had them long ago, all he was worrying about was how to reach themK

In )echanisms of ;isco!ery in I. S. Gordon and S. Sorkin 4eds.5 %he Armchair 9cience +ea"er, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>$. Dunsan,, <o&d 7ogic, like whiskey, loses its beneficial effect when taken in too large /uantities. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. DD&e&, Alb&echt (1(#1-1!28) 'ut when great and ingenious artists behold their so inept performances, not undeservedly do they ridicule the blindness of such menF since sane 0udgment abhors nothing so much as a picture perpetrated with no technical knowledge, although with plenty of care and diligence. Now the sole reason why painters of this sort are not aware of their own error is that they have not learnt Geometry, without which no one can either be or become an absolute artistF but the blame for this should be laid upon their masters, who are themselves ignorant of this art. %he Art of )easurement$ #>%>. DD&e&, Alb&echt (1(#1-1!28) <hoever ... proves his point and demonstrates the prime truth geometrically should be believed by all the world, for there we are captured. * "eidrich 4ed.5 Albrecht ;Frer's schriftlicher &achlass 'erlin, #$%9. DD&e&, Alb&echt (1(#1-1!28) 8nd since geometry is the right foundation of all painting, I have decided to teach its rudiments and principles to all youngsters eager for art... Course in the Art of )easurement D,son, 1&eeman I am acutely aware of the fact that the marriage between mathematics and physics, which was so enormously fruitful in past centuries, has recently ended in divorce. )isse" /pportunities, #$)%. 4Gibbs 7ectureG5 D,son, 1&eeman For a physicist mathematics is not 0ust a tool by means of which phenomena can be calculated, it is the main source of concepts and principles by means of which new theories can be created. )athematics in the .hysical 9ciences$ D,son, 1&eeman .he bottom line for mathematicians is that the architecture has to be right. In all the mathematics that I did, the essential point was to find the right architecture. It,s like building a bridge. Ance the main lines of the structure are right, then the details miraculously fit. .he problem is the overall design. :Freeman Cyson !athematician, 3hysicist, and <riter:. Interview with Conald *. 8lbers, %he College )athematics Gournal, vol %>, no. #, *anuary #$$@. 4ddin ton, -i& A&thu& (1882-19(() 3roof is the idol before whom the pure mathematician tortures himself. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 4ddin ton, -i& A&thu& (1882-19(() <e used to think that if we knew one, we knew two, because one and one are two. <e are finding that we must learn a great deal more about Sand,. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 4ddin ton, -i& A&thu& (1882-19(() <e have found a strange footprint on the shores of the unknown. <e have devised profound theories, one after another, to account for its origins. 8t last, we have succeeded in reconstructing the creature that made the footprint. 8nd loK It is our own. 9pace, %ime an" Gra!itation. #$%9.

4ddin ton, -i& A&thu& (1882-19(() It is impossible to trap modern physics into predicting anything with perfect determinism because it deals with probabilities from the outset. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. 4ddin ton, -i& A&thu& (1882-19(() I believe there are #>,)@),)%@,#?B,%)>,99%,>)),B9>,B>?,$B#,#&#,>>>,@B&,9@@,)#),$#@,>%),##B,)9$,?B B,%?#,@%>,9)B,#&>,B?#,9?#,%$B protons in the universe and the same number of electrons. %he .hilosophy of .hysical 9cience. ;ambridge, #$?$. 4ddin ton, -i& A&thu& (1882-19(() .o the pure geometer the radius of curvature is an incidental characteristic = like the grin of the ;heshire cat. .o the physicist it is an indispensable characteristic. It would be going too far to say that to the physicist the cat is merely incidental to the grin. 3hysics is concerned with interrelatedness such as the interrelatedness of cats and grins. In this case the :cat without a grin: and the :grin without a cat: are e/ually set aside as purely mathematical phantasies. %he #xpan"ing ni!erse$. 4ddin ton, -i& A&thu& (1882-19(() "uman life is proverbially uncertainF few things are more certain than the solvency of a life=insurance company. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. 4d:a&ds, "onathon <hen I am violently beset with temptations, or cannot rid myself of evil thoughts, DI resolveE to do some 8rithmetic, or Geometry, or some other study, which necessarily engages all my thoughts, and unavoidably keeps them from wandering. In .. !allon A :oo( of /ne's /wn$ .icknor H Fields, New York, #$&@, p. #9B=#9). 4 &a'o3, M. If you ask mathematicians what they do, yo always get the same answer. .hey think. .hey think about difficult and unusual problems. .hey do not think about ordinary problems they 0ust write down the answers. )athematics )aga*ine, v. B> no. >, Cecember #$$%. 4i en, Man'&ed (192# - ) 8 theory has only the alternative of being right or wrong. 8 model has a third possibility it may be right, but irrelevant. *agdish !ehra 4ed.5 %he .hysicist's Conception of &ature, #$)?. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) DCuring a lecture E.his has been done elegantly by !inkowskiF but chalk is cheaper than grey matter, and we will do it as it comes. D8ttributed by 3Tlya.E *.+. 7ittlewood, A )athematician's )iscellany, !ethuen and ;o. 7td., #$>?. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) +verything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. +ea"er's ;igest. Act. #$)). 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) I don,t believe in mathematics. Juoted by ;arl Seelig. Albert #instein. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) Imagination is more important than knowledge. /n 9cience$

4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) .he most beautiful thing we can e(perience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. -hat , :elie!e$ 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) .he bitter and the sweet come from the outside, the hard from within, from one,s own efforts. /ut of )y Later 'ears$ 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) Gott wFrfelt nicht$ 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) ;ommon sense is the collection of pre0udices ac/uired by age eighteen. In +. .. 'ell )athematics, @ueen an" 9er!ant of the 9ciences. #$>%. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. "e integrates empirically. 7. Infeld @uest, #$@%. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) "ow can it be that mathematics, being after all a product of human thought independent of e(perience, is so admirably adapted to the ob0ects of realityG 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) D8bout NewtonE Nature to him was an open book, whose letters he could read without effort. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill, #$$%. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) 8s far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certainF and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) <hat is this frog and mouse battle among the mathematiciansG Di.e. 'rouwer vs. "ilbertE In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare" 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) +affiniert ist "er <err Gott, aber boshaft ist er nicht. God is subtle, but he is not malicious. Inscribed in Fine "all, 3rinceton 6niversity. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) Nature hides her secrets because of her essential loftiness, but not by means of ruse. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) .he human mind has first to construct forms, independently, before we can find them in things. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) Since the mathematicians have invaded the theory of relativity, I do not understand it myself anymore. In 8. Sommerfelt :.o 8lbert +instein,s Seventieth 'irthday: in 3aul 8. Schilpp 4ed.5 Albert #instein, .hilosopher19cientist, +vanston, #$@$. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) Co not worry about your difficulties in mathematics, I assure you that mine are greater. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) .he truth of a theory is in your mind, not in your eyes. In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%.

4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) .hese thoughts did not come in any verbal formulation. I rarely think in words at all. 8 thought comes, and I may try to e(press it in words afterward. In ". +ves )athematical Circles A"ieu, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)). 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) 8 human being is a part of the whole, called by us :6niverse,: a part limited in time and space. "e e(periences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the resta kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. .his delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Aur task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security. In ". +ves )athematical Circles A"ieu, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)). 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) .he world needs heroes and it,s better they be harmless men like me than villains like "itler. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) It is nothing short of a miracle that modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiousity of in/uiry. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) +verything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) .he search for truth is more precious than its possession. %he American )athematical )onthly v. #99 no. ?. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) If my theory of relativity is proven successful, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citi-en of the world. Should my theory prove untrue, France will say that I am a German and Germany will declare that I am a *ew. 8ddress at the Sorbonne, 3aris. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) <e come now to the /uestion what is a priori certain or necessary, respectively in geometry 4doctrine of space5 or its foundationsG Formerly we thought everythingF nowadays we think nothing. 8lready the distance=concept is logically arbitraryF there need be no things that correspond to it, even appro(imately. :Space=.ime.: #ncyclopae"ia :ritannica, #@th ed. 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) !ost of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be e(pressed in a language comprehensible to everyone. %he #!olution of .hysics$ 4instein, Albe&t (18#9-19!!) Science without religion is lameF religion without science is blind. +ea"er's ;igest, Nov. #$)?. 4llis, Ha3eloc) .he mathematician has reached the highest rung on the ladder of human thought. %he ;ance of Life$

4llis, Ha3eloc) It is here Din mathematicsE that the artist has the fullest scope of his imagination. %he ;ance of Life$ 4&ath, E. God is a childF and when he began to play, he cultivated mathematics. It is the most godly of man,s games. ;as blin"e 9piel. #$>@. 4&dFs, 9aul !athematics is not yet ready for such problems. D8ttributed by 3aul "almos.E %he American )athematical )onthly, Nov. #$$% 4&dFs, 9aul 8 !athematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems. 4ule&, <eonha&d (1#0# - 1#8$) If a nonnegative /uantity was so small that it is smaller than any given one, then it certainly could not be anything but -ero. .o those who ask what the infinitely small /uantity in mathematics is, we answer that it is actually -ero. "ence there are not so many mysteries hidden in this concept as they are usually believed to be. .hese supposed mysteries have rendered the calculus of the infinitely small /uite suspect to many people. .hose doubts that remain we shall thoroughly remove in the following pages, where we shall e(plain this calculus. 4ule&, <eonha&d (1#0#-1#8$) !athematicians have tried in vain to this day to discover some order in the se/uence of prime numbers, and we have reason to believe that it is a mystery into which the human mind will never penetrate. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. 4ule&, <eonha&d (1#0#-1#8$) Dupon losing the use of his right eyeE Now I will have less distraction. In ". +ves ,n )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$B$. 43e&ett, 4d:a&d (1#9(-18%!) In the pure mathematics we contemplate absolute truths which e(isted in the divine mind before the morning stars sang together, and which will continue to e(ist there when the last of their radiant host shall have fallen from heaven. Juoted by +... 'ell in %he @ueen of the 9ciences, 'altimore, #$?#. 43es, Ho:a&d +. 8 formal manipulator in mathematics often e(periences the discomforting feeling that his pencil surpasses him in intelligence. ,n )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$B$. 43es, Ho:a&d +. 8n e(pert problem solver must be endowed with two incompatible /ualities, a restless imagination and a patient pertinacity. ,n )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$B$. 43es, Ho:a&d +. !athematics may be likened to a large rock whose interior composition we wish to e(amine. .he older mathematicians appear as persevering stone cutters slowly attempting to demolish the rock from the outside with hammer and chisel. .he later mathematicians resemble e(pert miners who seek vulnerable veins, drill into these strategic places, and then blast the rock apart with well placed internal charges. ,n )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$B$. 43es, Ho:a&d +. Ane is hard pressed to think of universal customs that man has successfully

established on earth. .here is one, however, of which he can boast the universal adoption of the "indu=8rabic numerals to record numbers. In this we perhaps have man,s uni/ue worldwide victory of an idea. )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. 4:in , "ohn If the entire !andelbrot set were placed on an ordinary sheet of paper, the tiny sections of boundary we e(amine would not fill the width of a hydrogen atom. 3hysicists thin( about such tiny ob0ectsF only mathematicians have microscopes fine enough to actually observe them. :;an <e See the !andelbrot SetG:, %he College )athematics Gournal, v. %B, no. %, !arch #$$>. 1ocus Ne:slette& (MAA) Sample recommendation letter Cear Search ;ommittee ;hair, I am writing this letter for !r. *ohn Smith who has applied for a position in your department. I should start by saying that I cannot recommend him too highly. In fact, there is no other student with whom I can ade/uately compare him, and I am sure that the amount of mathematics he knows will surprise you. "is dissertation is the sort of work you don,t e(pect to see these days. It definitely demonstrates his complete capabilities. In closing, let me say that you will be fortunate if you can get him to work for you. Sincerely, 8. C. Misor 43rof.5 de 1e&mat, 9ie&&e (1%017-1%%!) DIn the margin of his copy of Ciophantus, Arithmetica, Fermat wroteE .o divide a cube into two other cubes, a fourth power or in general any power whatever into two powers of the same denomination above the second is impossible, and I have assuredly found an admirable proof of this, but the margin is too narrow to contain it. de 1e&mat, 9ie&&e (1%017-1%%!) 8nd perhaps, posterity will thank me for having shown it that the ancients did not know everything. In C. !. 'urton, #lementary &umber %heory, 'oston 8llyn and 'acon, Inc., #$)B. 1e,nman, 0icha&d 9hili.s (1918 - 1988) <e have a habit in writing articles published in scientific 0ournals to make the work as finished as possible, to cover up all the tracks, to not worry about the blind alleys or describe how you had the wrong idea first, and so on. So there isn,t any place to publish, in a dignified manner, what you actually did in order to get to do the work. Nobel 7ecture, #$BB. 1in)el, /enCamin 1&an)lin .he solution of problems is one of the lowest forms of mathematical research, ... yet its educational value cannot be overestimated. It is the ladder by which the mind ascends into higher fields of original research and investigation. !any dormant minds have been aroused into activity through the mastery of a single problem. %he American )athematical )onthly, no. #. 1ishe&, G&3in .he effort of the economist is to :see,: to picture the interplay of economic elements. .he more clearly cut these elements appear in his vision, the betterF the more elements he can grasp and hold in his mind at once, the better. .he economic world is a misty region. .he first e(plorers used unaided vision. !athematics is the lantern by which what before was dimly visible now looms up in firm, bold outlines. .he old

phantasmagoria disappear. <e see better. <e also see further. %ransactions of Conn$ Aca"emy, #&$%. 1ishe&, 0onald A,lme& (1890 - 19%2) Natural selection is a mechanism for generating an e(ceedingly high degree of improbability. 1ishe&, 0onald A,lme& (1890-19%2) .o call in the statistician after the e(periment is done may be no more than asking hm to perform a postmortem e(amination he may be able to say what the e(periment died of. Indian Statistical ;ongress, Sankhya, ca #$?&. 1laube&t, ;usta3e (1821-1880) 3oetry is as e(act a science as geometry. 1laube&t, ;usta3e (1821-1880) Since you are now studying geometry and trigonometry, I will give you a problem. 8 ship sails the ocean. It left 'oston with a cargo of wool. It grosses %99 tons. It is bound for 7e "avre. .he mainmast is broken, the cabin boy is on deck, there are #% passengers aboard, the wind is blowing +ast=North=+ast, the clock points to a /uarter past three in the afternoon. It is the month of !ay. "ow old is the captainG 1ontenelle, /e&na&d <e /o3ie& (1%!#-1#!#) !athematicians are like lovers. Grant a mathematician the least principle, and he will draw from it a conse/uence which you must also grant him, and from this conse/uence another. Juoted in M. ". 7arney Abstract Algebra: A Airst Course, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)>. 1ontenelle, /e&na&d <e /o3ie& (1%!#-1#!#) 8 work of morality, politics, criticism will be more elegant, other things being e/ual, if it is shaped by the hand of geometry. 3reface sur l' tilitC "es )athCmatiques et "e la .hysique, #)%$. 1ontenelle, /e&na&d <e /o3ie& (1%!#-1#!#) 7eibni- never marriedF he had considered it at the age of fiftyF but the person he had in mind asked for time to reflect. .his gave 7eibni- time to reflect, too, and so he never married. #loge "e le Leibni*. 1&an)land, +./. <hereas at the outset geometry is reported to have concerned herself with the measurement of muddy land, she now handles celestial as well as terrestrial problems she has e(tended her domain to the furthest bounds of space. "odder and Stoughton, %he 9tory of #ucli"$ #$9#. 1&a,n, Michael For hundreds of pages the closely=reasoned arguments unroll, a(ioms and theorems interlock. 8nd what remains with us in the endG 8 general sense that the world can be e(pressed in closely=reasoned arguments, in interlocking a(ioms and theorems. Constructions. #$)@. 1&ede&ic) the ;&eat (1#12-1#8%) .o your care and recommendation am I indebted for having replaced a half=blind mathematician with a mathematician with both eyes, which will especially please the anatomical members of my 8cademy. D.o C,8lembert about 7agrange. +uler had vacated the post.E In C. !. 'urton, #lementary &umber %heory, 'oston 8llyn and 'acon, Inc., #$)B. 1&e e, ;ottlob (18(8 - 192!) 8 scientist can hardly meet with anything more undesirable than to have the foundations give way 0ust as the work is finished. I was put in this position by a letter

from !r. 'ertrand 2ussell when the work was nearly through the press. In 9cientific American, !ay #$&@, p )). ;alb&aith, "ohn >enneth .here can be no /uestion, however, that prolonged commitment to mathematical e(ercises in economics can be damaging. It leads to the atrophy of 0udgement and intuition... #conomics, .eace, an" Laughter$ ;alilei, ;alileo (1!%( - 1%(2) D.he universeE cannot be read until we have learnt the language and become familiar with the characters in which it is written. It is written in mathematical language, and the letters are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without which means it is humanly impossible to comprehend a single word. /pere ,l 9aggiatore p. #)#. ;alilei, ;alileo (1!%( - 1%(2) !easure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so. Juoted in ". <eyl :!athematics and the 7aws of Nature: in I Gordon and S. Sorkin 4eds.5 %he Armchair 9cience +ea"er, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>$. ;alilei, ;alileo (1!%( - 1%(2) 8nd who can doubt that it will lead to the worst disorders when minds created free by God are compelled to submit slavishly to an outside willG <hen we are told to deny our senses and sub0ect them to the whim of othersG <hen people devoid of whatsoever competence are made 0udges over e(perts and are granted authority to treat them as they pleaseG .hese are the novelties which are apt to bring about the ruin of commonwealths and the subversion of the state. DAn the margin of his own copy of ;ialogue on the Great -orl" 9ystemsE. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B, p. )??. ;alois, 43a&iste 6nfortunately what is little recogni-ed is that the most worthwhile scientific books are those in which the author clearly indicates what he does not knowF for an author most hurts his readers by concealing difficulties. In N. 2ose 4ed.5 )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. ;alton, ?-i&@ 1&ancis (1822-1911) <henever you can, count. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. ;alton, -i& 1&ancis (1822-1911) DStatistics areE the only tools by which an opening can be cut through the formidable thicket of difficulties that bars the path of those who pursue the Science of !an. 3earson, %he Life an" Labours of Arancis Galton, #$#@. ;alton, -i& 1&ancis (1822-1911) I know of scarcely anything so apt to impress the imagination as the wonderful form of cosmic order e(pressed by the :7aw of Fre/uency of +rror.: .he law would have been personified by the Greeks and deified, if they had known of it. It reigns with serenity and in complete self=effacement, amidst the wildest confusion. .he huger the mob, and the greater the apparent anarchy, the more perfect is its sway. It is the supreme law of 6nreason. <henever a large sample of chaotic elements are taken in hand and marshaled in the order of their magnitude, an unsuspected and most beautiful form of regularity proves to have been latent all along. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. p. #@&%.

;a&dne&, Ma&tin 'iographical history, as taught in our public schools, is still largely a history of boneheads ridiculous kings and /ueens, paranoid political leaders, compulsive voyagers, ignorant generals == the flotsam and 0etsam of historical currents. .he men who radically altered history, the great scientists and mathematicians, are seldom mentioned, if at all. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill, #$$%. ;a&dne&, Ma&tin !athematics is not only real, but it is the only reality. .hat is that entire universe is made of matter, obviously. 8nd matter is made of particles. It,s made of electrons and neutrons and protons. So the entire universe is made out of particles. Now what are the particles made out ofG .hey,re not made out of anything. .he only thing you can say about the reality of an electron is to cite its mathematical properties. So there,s a sense in which matter has completely dissolved and what is left is 0ust a mathematical structure. Gardner on Gardner *3'! ;ommunications 8ward 3resentation. Aocus1%he &ewsletter of the )athematical Association of America v. #@, no. B, Cecember #$$@. ;auss, >a&l 1&ied&ich (1###-18!!) I confess that Fermat,s .heorem as an isolated proposition has very little interest for me, because I could easily lay down a multitude of such propositions, which one could neither prove nor dispose of. D8 reply to Albers, attempt in #&#B to entice him to work on Fermat,s .heorem.E In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. p. ?#%. ;auss, >a&l 1&ied&ich (1###-18!!) If others would but reflect on mathematical truths as deeply and as continuously as I have, they would make my discoveries. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. p. ?%B. ;auss, >a&l 1&ied&ich (1###-18!!) .here are problems to whose solution I would attach an infinitely greater importance than to those of mathematics, for e(ample touching ethics, or our relation to God, or concerning our destiny and our futureF but their solution lies wholly beyond us and completely outside the province of science. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. p. ?#@. ;auss, >a&l 1&ied&ich (1###-18!!) You know that I write slowly. .his is chiefly because I am never satisfied until I have said as much as possible in a few words, and writing briefly takes far more time than writing at length. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill inc., #$$%. ;auss, >a&l 1&ied&ich (1###-18!!) God does arithmetic. ;auss, >a&l 1&ied&ich (1###-18!!) <e must admit with humility that, while number is purely a product of our minds, space has a reality outside our minds, so that we cannot completely prescribe its properties a priori. 7etter to 'essel, #&?9. ;auss, >a&l 1&ied&ich (1###-18!!) I mean the word proof not in the sense of the lawyers, who set two half proofs e/ual to a whole one, but in the sense of a mathematician, where half proof I 9, and it is demanded for proof that every doubt becomes impossible. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill inc., #$$%.

;auss, >a&l 1&ied&ich (1###-18!!) I have had my results for a long time but I do not yet know how I am to arrive at them. In 8. 8rber %he )in" an" the #ye #$>@. ;auss, >a&l 1&ied&ich (1###-18!!) D"is motto E Few, but ripe. ;auss, >a&l 1&ied&ich (1###-18!!) D"is second motto E .hou, nature, art my goddessF to thy laws my services are bound... <. Shakespeare Eing Lear. ;auss, >a&l 1&ied&ich (1###-18!!) Dattributed to him by ".' 7UbsenE .heory attracts practice as the magnet attracts iron. Foreword of ".' 7Ubsen,s geometry te(tbook. ;auss, >a&l 1&ied&ich (1###-18!!) It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest en0oyment. <hen I have clarified and e(hausted a sub0ect, then I turn away from it, in order to go into darkness againF the never= satisfied man is so strange if he has completed a structure, then it is not in order to dwell in it peacefully, but in order to begin another. I imagine the world con/ueror must feel thus, who, after one kingdom is scarcely con/uered, stretches out his arms for others. 7etter to 'olyai, #&9&. ;auss, >a&l 1&ied&ich (1###-18!!) Finally, two days ago, I succeeded = not on account of my hard efforts, but by the grace of the 7ord. 7ike a sudden flash of lightning, the riddle was solved. I am unable to say what was the conducting thread that connected what I previously knew with what made my success possible. In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. ;auss, >a&l 1&ied&ich (1###-18!!) 8 great part of its Dhigher arithmeticE theories derives an additional charm from the peculiarity that important propositions, with the impress of simplicity on them, are often easily discovered by induction, and yet are of so profound a character that we cannot find the demonstrations till after many vain attemptsF and even then, when we do succeed, it is often by some tedious and artificial process, while the simple methods may long remain concealed. In ". +ves )athematical Circles A"ieu, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)). ;auss, >a&l 1&ied&ich (1###-18!!) I am coming more and more to the conviction that the necessity of our geometry cannot be demonstrated, at least neither by, nor for, the human intellect...geometry should be ranked, not with arithmetic, which is purely aprioristic, but with mechanics. Juoted in *. Noenderink 9oli" 9hape, ;ambridge !ass. !I. 3ress, #$$9. ;a,, "ohn 7est men suspect your tale untrue, Neep probability in view. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. p. #??@. ;ibbs, "osiah +illa&d (18$9 - 190$) Ane of the principal ob0ects of theoretical research in my department of knowledge is to find the point of view from which the sub0ect appears in its greatest simplicity.

;ibbs, "osiah +illa&d (18$9-190$) !athematics is a language. ;ilbe&t, +. -. (18$% - 1911) I,m very good at integral and differential calculus, I know the scientific names of beings animalculousF In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral, I am the very model of a modern !a0or=General. %he .irates of .en*ance$ 8ct #. ;laishe&, ".+. .he mathematician re/uires tact and good taste at every step of his work, and he has to learn to trust to his own instinct to distinguish between what is really worthy of his efforts and what is not. In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. ;lan3ill, "ose.h 8nd for mathematical science, he that doubts their certainty hath need of a dose of hellebore. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B, p. >@&. ;oedel, >u&t I don,t believe in natural science. DSaid to physicist *ohn 'ahcall.E +d 2egis, -ho Got #instein's /fficeH 8ddison <esley, #$&). ;oethe It has been said that figures rule the world. !aybe. 'ut I am sure that figures show us whether it is being ruled well or badly. In *. 3. +ckermann, Con!ersations with Goethe$ ;oethe !athematics has the completely false reputation of yielding infallible conclusions. Its infallibility is nothing but identity. .wo times two is not four, but it is 0ust two times two, and that is what we call four for short. 'ut four is nothing new at all. 8nd thus it goes on and on in its conclusions, e(cept that in the higher formulas the identity fades out of sight. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B, p. #)>@. ;oodman, Nicholas 9. .here are no deep theorems == only theorems that we have not understood very well. %he )athematical ,ntelligencer, vol. >, no. ?, #$&?. ;o&don, 9 .his is not mathematics, it is theology. DAn being e(posed to "ilbert,s work in invariant theory.E Juoted in 3. Cavis and 2. "ersh %he )athematical #xperience, 'oston 'irkhPuser, #$&#. ;&aham, 0onald It wouild be very discouraging if somewhere down the line you could ask a computer if the 2iemann hypothesis is correct and it said, SYes, it is true, but you won,t be able to understand the proof., *ohn "organ. 9cientific American %B$ @ 4Actober #$$?5 $%=#9?. ;&Dnbaum, /&an)o (192% - ), and -he.ha&d, ;. *. (7) !athematicians have long since regarded it as demeaning to work on problems related to elementary geometry in two or three dimensions, in spite of the fact that it it precisely this sort of mathematics which is of practical value. <an"boo( of Applicable )athematics$

Hadama&d, "ac6ues .he shortest path between two truths in the real domain passes through the comple( domain. Juoted in %he )athematical ,ntelligencer, v. #?, no. #, <inter #$$#. Hadma&d, "ac6ues 3ractical application is found by not looking for it, and one can say that the whole progress of civili-ation rests on that principle. In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. Haldane, "ohn /u&don -ande&son (1892-19%() In scientific thought we adopt the simplest theory which will e(plain all the facts under consideration and enable us to predict new facts of the same kind. .he catch in this criterion lies in the world :simplest.: It is really an aesthetic canon such as we find implicit in our criticisms of poetry or painting. .he layman finds such a law as d(1dt I N4dQ%(1dyQ%5 much less simple than :it oo-es,: of which it is the mathematical statement. .he physicist reverses this 0udgment, and his statement is certainly the more fruitful of the two, so far as prediction is concerned. It is, however, a statement about something very unfamiliar to the plainman, namely, the rate of change of a rate of change. .ossible -orl"s, #$%). Haldane, "ohn /u&don -ande&son (1892-19%() 8 time will however come 4as I believe5 when physiology will invade and destroy mathematical physics, as the latter has destroyed geometry. ;ae"alus, or 9cience an" the Auture, 7ondon Negan 3aul, #$%?. Halmos, 9aul 0. !athematics is not a deductive science == that,s a cliche. <hen you try to prove a theorem, you don,t 0ust list the hypotheses, and then start to reason. <hat you do is trial and error, e(perimentation, guesswork. , -ant to be a )athematician, <ashington !88 Spectrum, #$&>. Halmos, 9aul 0. ... the student skit at ;hristmas contained a plaintive line :Give us !aster,s e(ams that our faculty can pass, or give us a faculty that can pass our !aster,s e(ams.: , -ant to be a )athematician, <ashington !88 Spectrum, #$&>. Halmos, 9aul 0. I remember one occasion when I tried to add a little seasoning to a review, but I wasn,t allowed to. .he paper was by Corothy !aharam, and it was a perfectly sound contribution to abstract measure theory. .he domains of the underlying measures were not sets but elements of more general 'oolean algebras, and their range consisted not of positive numbers but of certain abstract e/uivalence classes. !y proposed first sentence was :.he author discusses valueless measures in pointless spaces.: , want to be a )athematician, <ashington !88 Spectrum, #$&>, p. #%9. Halmos, 9aul 0. ...the source of all great mathematics is the special case, the concrete e(ample. It is fre/uent in mathematics that every instance of a concept of seemingly great generality is in essence the same as a small and concrete special case. , -ant to be a )athematician, <ashington !88 Spectrum, #$&>. Halmos, 9aul 0. .he 0oy of suddenly learning a former secret and the 0oy of suddenly discovering a hitherto unknown truth are the same to me == both have the flash of enlightenment, the almost incredibly enhanced vision, and the ecstasy and euphoria of released tension. , -ant to be a )athematician, <ashington !88 Spectrum, #$&>.

Halmos, 9aul 0. Con,t 0ust read itF fight itK 8sk your own /uestions, look for your own e(amples, discover your own proofs. Is the hypothesis necessaryG Is the converse trueG <hat happens in the classical special caseG <hat about the degenerate casesG <here does the proof use the hypothesisG , -ant to be a )athematician, <ashington !88 Spectrum, #$&>. Halmos, 9aul 0. .o be a scholar of mathematics you must be born with talent, insight, concentration, taste, luck, drive and the ability to visuali-e and guess. , -ant to be a )athematician, <ashington !88 Spectrum, #$&>. Hamilton, ?-i&@ +illiam 0o:an (180!-18%!) <ho would not rather have the fame of 8rchimedes than that of his con/ueror !arcellusG In ". +ves )athematical Circles +e!isite", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)#. Hamilton, -i& +illiam 0o:an (180!-18%!) I regard it as an inelegance, or imperfection, in /uaternions, or rather in the state to which it has been hitherto unfolded, whenever it becomes or seems to become necessary to have recourse to (, y, -, etc.. In a letter from .ait to ;ayley. Hamilton, -i& +illiam 0o:an (180!-18%!) An earth there is nothing great but manF in man there is nothing great but mind. Lectures on )etaphysics$ Hammin , 0icha&d +. Coes anyone believe that the difference between the 7ebesgue and 2iemann integrals can have physical significance, and that whether say, an airplane would or would not fly could depend on this differenceG If such were claimed, I should not care to fly in that plane. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. Hammin , 0icha&d +. !athematics is an interesting intellectual sport but it should not be allowed to stand in the way of obtaining sensible information about physical processes. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. Ha&d,, ;od'&e, H. (18## - 19(#) DAn 2amanu0anE I remember once going to see him when he was lying ill at 3utney. I had ridden in ta(i cab number #)%$ and remarked that the number seemed to me rather a dull one, and that I hoped it was not an unfavorable omen. :No,: he replied, :it is a very interesting numberF it is the smallest number e(pressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways.: +amanu?an, 7ondon ;ambridge 6nivesity 3ress, #$@9. Ha&d,, ;od'&e, H. (18## - 19(#) 2eductio ad absurdum, which +uclid loved so much, is one of a mathematician,s finest weapons. It is a far finer gambit than any chess play a chess player may offer the sacrifice of a pawn or even a piece, but a mathematician offers the game. A )athematician's Apology, 7ondon, ;ambridge 6niversity 3ress, #$@#. Ha&d,, ;od'&e, H. (18## - 19(#) I am interested in mathematics only as a creative art. A )athematician's Apology, 7ondon, ;ambridge 6niversity 3ress, #$@#. Ha&d,, ;od'&e, H. (18## - 19(#) 3ure mathematics is on the whole distinctly more useful than applied. For what is useful above all is techni/ue, and mathematical techni/ue is taught mainly through pure mathematics.

Ha&d,, ;od'&e, H. (18## - 19(#) In great mathematics there is a very high degree of une(pectedness, combined with inevitability and economy. A )athematician's Apology, 7ondon, ;ambridge 6niversity 3ress, #$@#. Ha&d,, ;od'&e, H. (18## - 19(#) .here is no scorn more profound, or on the whole more 0ustifiable, than that of the men who make for the men who e(plain. +(position, criticism, appreciation, is work for second=rate minds. A )athematician's Apology, 7ondon, ;ambridge 6niversity 3ress, #$@#. Ha&d,, ;od'&e, H. (18## - 19(#) Young !en should prove theorems, old men should write books. Juoted by Freeman Cyson in Freeman Cyson !athematician, 3hysicist, and <riter. Interview with Conald *. 8lbers, .he ;ollege !athematics *ournal, vol. %>, No. #, *anuary #$$@. Ha&d,, ;od'&e, H. (18## - 19(#) 8 science is said to be useful of its development tends to accentuate the e(isting ine/ualities in the distribution of wealth, or more directly promotes the destruction of human life. A )athematician's Apology, 7ondon, ;ambridge 6niversity 3ress, #$@#. Ha&d,, ;od'&e, H. (18## - 19(#) .he mathematician,s patterns, like the painter,s or the poet,s must be beautifulF the ideas, like the colors or the words must fit together in a harmonious way. 'eauty is the first test there is no permanent place in this world for ugly mathematics. A )athematician's Apology, 7ondon, ;ambridge 6niversity 3ress, #$@#. Ha&d,, ;od'&e, H. (18## - 19(#) I believe that mathematical reality lies outside us, that our function is to discover or observe it, and that the theorems which we prove, and which we describe grandilo/uently as our :creations,: are simply the notes of our observations. A )athematician's Apology, 7ondon, ;ambridge 6niversity 3ress, #$@#. Ha&d,, ;od'&e, H. (18## - 19(#) 8rchimedes will be remembered when 8eschylus is forgotten, because languages die and mathematical ideas do not. :Immortality: may be a silly word, but probably a mathematician has the best chance of whatever it may mean. A )athematician's Apology, 7ondon, ;ambridge 6niversity 3ress,#$@#. Ha&d,, ;od'&e, H. (18## - 19(#) .he fact is that there are few more :popular: sub0ects than mathematics. !ost people have some appreciation of mathematics, 0ust as most people can en0oy a pleasant tuneF and there are probably more people really interested in mathematics than in music. 8ppearances may suggest the contrary, but there are easy e(planations. !usic can be used to stimulate mass emotion, while mathematics cannotF and musical incapacity is recogni-ed 4no doubt rightly5 as mildly discreditable, whereas most people are so frightened of the name of mathematics that they are ready, /uite unaffectedly, to e(aggerate their own mathematical stupidity. A )athematician's Apology, 7ondon, ;ambridge 6niversity 3ress, #$@#. Ha&d,, 5homas ...he seemed to approach the grave as an hyperbolic curve approaches a line, less directly as he got nearer, till it was doubtful if he would ever reach it at all. Aar from the )a""ing Crow". Ha&ish-*hand&a I have often pondered over the roles of knowledge or e(perience, on the one hand, and imagination or intuition, on the other, in the process of discovery. I believe that there is a certain fundamental conflict between the two, and knowledge, by

advocating caution, tends to inhibit the flight of imagination. .herefore, a certain naivete, unburdened by conventional wisdom, can sometimes be a positive asset. 2. 7anglands, :"arish=;handra,: :iographical )emoirs of Aellows of the +oyal 9ociety ?# 4#$&>5 #$) = %%>. Ha&&is, -,dne, ". .he real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. Ha:)in , -te.hen +illiams (19(2- ) God not only plays dice. "e also sometimes throws the dice where they cannot be seen. DSee related /uotation from 8lbert +instein.E &ature #$)> %>). Heath, -i& 5homas D.he works of 8rchimedesE are without e(ception, monuments of mathematical e(positionF the gradual revelation of the plan of attack, the masterly ordering of the propositions, the stern elimination of everything not immediately relevant to the purpose, the finish of the whole, are so impressive in their perfection as to create a feeling akin to awe in the mind of the reader. A <istory of Gree( )athematics. #$%#. Hea3iside, Hli3e& (18!0-192!) D;ritici-ed for using formal mathematical manipulations, without understanding how they worked E Should I refuse a good dinner simply because I do not understand the process of digestionG Heinlein, 0obe&t A. 8nyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. 8t best he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear shoes, bathe, and not make messes in the house. %ime #nough for Lo!e$ Heisenbe& , +e&ne& (1901-19#%) 8n e(pert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his sub0ect, and how to avoid them. .hysics an" :eyon". #$)#. Hem.el, *a&l ;. .he propositions of mathematics have, therefore, the same un/uestionable certainty which is typical of such propositions as :8ll bachelors are unmarried,: but they also share the complete lack of empirical content which is associated with that certainty .he propositions of mathematics are devoid of all factual contentF they convey no information whatever on any empirical sub0ect matter. :An the Nature of !athematical .ruth: in *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Hem.el, *a&l ;. .he most distinctive characteristic which differentiates mathematics from the various branches of empirical science, and which accounts for its fame as the /ueen of the sciences, is no doubt the peculiar certainty and necessity of its results. :Geometry and +mpirical Science: in *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Hem.el, *a&l ;. ...to characteri-e the import of pure geometry, we might use the standard form of a movie=disclaimer No portrayal of the characteristics of geometrical figures or of the spatial properties of relationships of actual bodies is intended, and any similarities between the primitive concepts and their customary geometrical connotations are purely coincidental.

:Geometry and +mpirical Science: in *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Hen)in, <eon Ane of the big misapprehensions about mathematics that we perpetrate in our classrooms is that the teacher always seems to know the answer to any problem that is discussed. .his gives students the idea that there is a book somewhere with all the right answers to all of the interesting /uestions, and that teachers know those answers. 8nd if one could get hold of the book, one would have everything settled. .hat,s so unlike the true nature of mathematics. 7.8. Steen and C.*. 8lbers 4eds.5, .eaching %eachers, %eaching 9tu"ents, 'oston 'irkhPuser, #$&#, p&$. He&mite, *ha&les (1822 - 1901) .here e(ists, if I am not mistaken, an entire world which is the totality of mathematical truths, to which we have access only with our mind, 0ust as a world of physical reality e(ists, the one like the other independent of ourselves, both of divine creation. In %he )athematical ,ntelligencer, v. >, no. @. He&mite, *ha&les (1822-1901) 8bel has left mathematicians enough to keep them busy for >99 years. In G. F. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. He&mite, *ha&les (1822-1901) <e are servants rather than masters in mathematics. In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. He&t2, Hein&ich Ane cannot escape the feeling that these mathematical formulas have an independent e(istence and an intelligence of their own, that they are wiser that we are, wiser even than their discoverers, that we get more out of them than was originally put into them. Juoted by +. 'ell in )en of )athematics, New York, $?). Hesse, He&mann (18##-19%2) You treat world history as a mathematician does mathematics, in which nothing but laws and formulae e(ist, no reality, no good and evil, no time, no yesterday, no tomorrow, nothing but an eternal, shallow, mathematical present. %he Glass :ea" Game, #$@?. Hilbe&t, Da3id (18%2-19($) <ir mUssen wissen. <ir werden wissen. D+ngraved on his tombstone in GVttingen.E Hilbe&t, Da3id (18%2-19($) 'efore beginning I should put in three years of intensive study, and I haven,t that much time to s/uander on a probable failure. DAn why he didn,t try to solve Fermat,s last theoremE Juoted in +... 'ell )athematics, @ueen an" 9er!ant of 9cience, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$>#. Hilbe&t, Da3id (18%2-19($) Galileo was no idiot. Anly an idiot could believe that science re/uires martyrdom = that may be necessary in religion, but in time a scientific result will establish itself. In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)#. Hilbe&t, Da3id (18%2-19($) !athematics is a game played according to certain simple rules with meaningless marks on paper. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&.

Hilbe&t, Da3id (18%2-19($) 3hysics is much too hard for physicists. ;. 2eid <ilbert, 7ondon 8llen and 6nwin, #$)9. Hilbe&t, Da3id (18%2-19($) "ow thoroughly it is ingrained in mathematical science that every real advance goes hand in hand with the invention of sharper tools and simpler methods which, at the same time, assist in understanding earlier theories and in casting aside some more complicated developments. Hilbe&t, Da3id (18%2-19($) .he art of doing mathematics consists in finding that special case which contains all the germs of generality. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. Hilbe&t, Da3id (18%2-19($) .he further a mathematical theory is developed, the more harmoniously and uniformly does its construction proceed, and unsuspected relations are disclosed between hitherto separated branches of the science. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. Hilbe&t, Da3id (18%2-19($) I have tried to avoid long numerical computations, thereby following 2iemann,s postulate that proofs should be given through ideas and not voluminous computations. +eport on &umber %heory, #&$). Hilbe&t, Da3id (18%2-19($) Ane can measure the importance of a scientific work by the number of earlier publications rendered superfluous by it. In ". +ves )athematical Circles +e!isite", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt,#$)#. Hilbe&t, Da3id (18%2-19($) !athematics knows no races or geographic boundariesF for mathematics,the cultural world is one country. In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. Hilbe&t, Da3id (18%2-19($) .he infiniteK No other /uestion has ever moved so profoundly the spirit of man. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Hi&st, 5homas A&che& #9th 8ugust #&># An .uesday evening at !useum, at a ball in the gardens. .he night was chill, I dropped too suddenly from Cifferential ;alculus into ladies, society, and could not give myself freely to the change. 8fter an hour,s attempt so to do, I returned, cursing the mode of life I was pursuingF ne(t morning I had already shaken hands, however, with Ciff. ;alculus, and forgot the ladies.... *. "elen Gardner and 2obin *. <ilson, :.homas 8rcher "irst = !athematician Rtravagant II = Student Cays in Germany:, %he American )athematical )onthly , v. B, no. #99. Hobbes, 5homas .here is more in !ersenne than in all the universities together. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. Hobbes, 5homas .o understand this for sense it is not re/uired that a man should be a geometrician or a logician, but that he should be mad. D:.his: is that the volume generated by revolving the region under #1( from # to infinity has finite volume.E In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&.

Hobbes, 5homas Geometry, which is the only science that it hath pleased God hitherto to bestow on mankind. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Hobbes, 5homas .he errors of definitions multiply themselves according as the reckoning proceedsF and lead men into absurdities, which at last they see but cannot avoid, without reckoning anew from the beginning. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Holmes, Hli3e& +endell Cescartes commanded the future from his study more than Napoleon from the throne. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. Holmes, Hli3e& +endell ;ertitude is not the test of certainty. <e have been cocksure of many things that are not so. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. Holmes, Hli3e& +endell I was 0ust going to say, when I was interrupted, that one of the many ways of classifying minds is under the heads of arithmetical and algebraical intellects. 8ll economical and practical wisdom is an e(tension of the following arithmetical formula % W % I @. +very philosophical proposition has the more general character of the e(pression a W b I c. <e are mere operatives, empirics, and egotists until we learn to think in letters instead of figures. %he Autocrat of the :rea(fast %able. Holt, M. and Ma&Co&am, D. 5. 4. .he truth of the matter is that, though mathematics truth may be beauty, it can be only glimpsed after much hard thinking. !athematics is difficult for many human minds to grasp because of its hierarchical structure one thing builds on another and depends on it. )athematics in a Changing -orl" <alker, New York #$)?. Ho'stadte&, Dou las 0. (19(! - ) "ofstadter,s 7aw It always takes longer than you e(pect, even when you take into account "ofstadter,s 7aw. GI"el, #scher, :ach #$)$. Hu hes, 0icha&d Science, being human en/uiry, can hear no answer e(cept an answer couched somehow in human tones. 3rimitive man stood in the mountains and shouted against a cliffF the echo brought back his own voice, and he believed in a disembodied spirit. .he scientist of today stands counting out loud in the face of the unknown. Numbers come back to him = and he believes in the Great !athematician. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Hume, Da3id (1#11 - 1##%) If we take in our hand any volumeF of divinity or school metaphysics, for instanceF let us ask, SCoes it contain any abstract reasoning concerning /uantity or numberG, No. SCoes it contain any e(perimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and e(istenceG, No. ;ommit it then to the flames for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion. %reatise Concerning <uman n"erstan"ing.

HuBle,, Aldous I admit that mathematical science is a good thing. 'ut e(cessive devotion to it is a bad thing. Interview with *. <. N. Sullivan, Contemporary )in", 7ondon, #$?@. HuBle,, Aldous If we evolved a race of Isaac Newtons, that would not be progress. For the price Newton had to pay for being a supreme intellect was that he was incapable of friendship, love, fatherhood, and many other desirable things. 8s a man he was a failureF as a monster he was superb. Interview with *. <. N. Sullivan, Contemporary )in", 7ondon, #$?@. HuBle,, Aldous ...DheE was as much enchanted by the rudiments of algebra as he would have been if I had given him an engine worked by steam, with a methylated spirit lamp to heat the boilerF more enchanted, perhapsfor the engine would have got broken, and, remaining always itself, would in any case have lost its charm, while the rudiments of algebra continued to grow and blossom in his mind with an unfailing lu(uriance. +very day he made the discovery of something which seemed to him e(/uisitely beautifulF the new toy was ine(haustible in its potentialities. 'oung Archime"es$ HuBle,, 5homas Hen&, (182!-189!) .his seems to be one of the many cases in which the admitted accuracy of mathematical processes is allowed to throw a wholly inadmissible appearance of authority over the results obtained by them. !athematics may be compared to a mill of e(/uisite workmanship, which grinds your stuff of any degree of finenessF but, nevertheless, what you get out depends on what you put inF and as the grandest mill in the world will not e(tract wheat flour from peascods, so pages of formulae will not get a definite result out of loose data. @uarterly Gournal of the Geological 9ociety, %>,#&B$. HuBle,, 5homas Hen&, (182!-189!) .he mathematician starts with a few propositions, the proof of which is so obvious that they are called selfevident, and the rest of his work consists of subtle deductions from them. .he teaching of languages, at any rate as ordinarily practised, is of the same general nature authority and tradition furnish the data, and the mental operations are deductive. :Scientific +ducation =Notes of an 8fter=dinner Speech.: )acmillan's )aga*ine Mol RR, #&B$. HuBle,, 5homas Hen&, (182!-189!) It is the first duty of a hypothesis to be intelligible. Gbn >haldun (1$$2-1(0%) Geometry enlightens the intellect and sets one,s mind right. 8ll of its proofs are very clear and orderly. It is hardly possible for errors to enter into geometrical reasoning, because it is well arranged and orderly. .hus, the mind that constantly applies itself to geometry is not likely to fall into error. In this convenient way, the person who knows geometry ac/uires intelligence. %he )uqa""imah$ An ,ntro"uction to <istory$ Gsido&e o' -e3ille (ca %00 ad) .ake from all things their number and all shall perish. "acobi, *a&l It is true that Fourier had the opinion that the principal aim of mathematics was public utility and e(planation of natural phenomenaF but a philosopher like him should have known that the sole end of science is the honor of the human mind, and that under this title a /uestion about numbers is worth as much as a /uestion about the system

of the world. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. "acobi, *a&l God ever arithmeti-es. In ". +ves )athematical Circles +e!isite", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)#. "acobi, *a&l Ane should always generali-e. J)an muss immer generalisierenK In 3. Cavis and 2. "ersh %he )athematical #xperience, 'oston 'irkhPuser, #$&#. "acobi, *a&l .he real end of science is the honor of the human mind. In ". +ves ,n )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$B$. "acobi, *a&l It is often more convenient to possess the ashes of great men than to possess the men themselves during their lifetime. D;ommenting on the return of Cescartes, remains to FranceE In ". +ves )athematical Circles A"ieu, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)). "acobi, *a&l !athematics is the science of what is clear by itself. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. "ames, +illiam (18(2 - 1910) .he union of the mathematician with the poet, fervor with measure, passion with correctness, this surely is the ideal. Collecte" #ssays$ "eans, -i& "ames .he essential fact is that all the pictures which science now draws of nature, and which alone seem capable of according with observational facts, are mathematical pictures. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. "eans, -i& "ames From the intrinsic evidence of his creation, the Great 8rchitect of the 6niverse now begins to appear as a pure mathematician. )ysterious ni!erse. "e''e&son, 5homas ...the science of calculation also is indispensable as far as the e(traction of the s/uare and cube roots 8lgebra as far as the /uadratic e/uation and the use of logarithms are often of value in ordinary cases but all beyond these is but a lu(uryF a delicious lu(ury indeedF but not be in indulged in by one who is to have a profession to follow for his subsistence. In *. 2obert Appenheimer :.he +ncouragement of Science: in I. Gordon and S. Sorkin 4eds.5 %he Armchair 9cience +ea"er, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>$. "e3ons, +illiam -tanle, It is clear that +conomics, if it is to be a science at all, must be a mathematical science. %heory of .olitical #conomy$ "ohnson, -amuel (1#09-1#8() Sir, I have found you an argument. I am not obliged to find you an understanding. *. 'oswell %he Life of 9amuel Gohnson, #)&@. "o:ett, /enCamin (181# - 189$) 7ogic is neither a science or an art, but a dodge.

In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. >ant, 4mmanual (1#2( - 180() .he science of mathematics presents the most brilliant e(ample of how pure reason may successfully enlarge its domain without the aid of e(perience. %he )athematical ,ntelligencer, v. #?, no. #, <inter #$$#. >ant, 4mmanual (1#2( - 180() 8ll human knowledge thus begins with intuitions, proceeds thence to concepts, and ends with ideas. Juoted in "ilbert,s Aoun"ations of Geometry. >a.lan, Ab&aham !athematics is not yet capable of coping with the naivete of the mathematician himself. 9ociology Learns the Language of )athematics. >a.lans),, G&3in <e Dhe and "almosE share a philosophy about linear algebra we think basis=free, we write basis=free , but when the chips are down we close the office door and compute with matrices like fury. .aul <almos: Celebrating 64 'ears of )athematics$ >a&lin, -amuel (192$ - ) .he purpose of models is not to fit the data but to sharpen the /uestions. ##th 2 8 Fisher !emorial 7ecture, 2oyal Society %9, 8pril #$&?. >asne&, 4. and Ne:man, ". !athematics is man,s own handiwork, sub0ect only to the limitations imposed by the laws of thought. )athematics an" the ,magination, New York Simon and Schuster, #$@9. >asne&, 4. and Ne:man, ". ...we have overcome the notion that mathematical truths have an e(istence independent and apart from our own minds. It is even strange to us that such a notion could ever have e(isted. )athematics an" the ,magination, New York Simon and Schuster, #$@9. >asne&, 4. and Ne:man, ". !athematics is the science which uses easy words for hard ideas. )athematics an" the ,magination, New York Simon and Schuster, #$@9. >asne&, 4. and Ne:man, ". !athematics is often erroneously referred to as the science of common sense. 8ctually, it may transcend common sense and go beyond either imagination or intuition. It has become a very strange and perhaps frightening sub0ect from the ordinary point of view, but anyone who penetrates into it will find a veritable fairyland, a fairyland which is strange, but makes sense, if not common sense. )athematics an" the ,magination, New York Simon and Schuster, #$@9. >asne&, 4. and Ne:man, ". 3erhaps the greatest parado( of all is that there are parado(es in mathematics. )athematics an" the ,magination, New York Simon and Schuster, #$@9. >asne&, 4. and Ne:man, ". <hen the mathematician says that such and such a proposition is true of one thing, it may be interesting, and it is surely safe. 'ut when he tries to e(tend his proposition to everything, though it is much more interesting, it is also much more dangerous. In the transition from one to all, from the specific to the general, mathematics has made its greatest progress, and suffered its most serious setbacks, of which the logical parado(es constitute the most important part. For, if mathematics is to advance

securely and confidently it must first set its affairs in order at home. )athematics an" the ,magination, New York Simon and Schuster, #$@9. >asne&, 4. and Ne:man, ". 0. .he testament of science is so continually in a flu( that the heresy of yesterday is the gospel of today and the fundamentalism of tomorrow. +. Nasner and *. 2. Newman, )athematics an" the ,magination, Simon and Schuster, #$@9. >elle&, Helen (1880 - 19%8) Now I feel as if I should succeed in doing something in mathematics, although I cannot see why it is so very important... .he knowledge doesn,t make life any sweeter or happier, does itG %he 9tory of )y Life$ #$9?. >elle,, "ohn 8 topologist is one who doesn,t know the difference between a doughnut and a coffee cup. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. >e.le&, "ohannes (1!#1-1%$0) 8 mind is accustomed to mathematical deduction, when confronted with the faulty foundations of astrology, resists a long, long time, like an obstinate mule, until compelled by beating and curses to put its foot into that dirty puddle. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. >e.le&, "ohannes (1!#1-1%$0) <here there is matter, there is geometry. J bi materia, ibi geometria$K *. Noenderink 9oli" 9hape, ;ambridge !ass. !I. 3ress, #$$9 >e.le&, "ohannes (1!#1-1%$0) .he chief aim of all investigations of the e(ternal world should be to discover the rational order and harmony which has been imposed on it by God and which "e revealed to us in the language of mathematics. >e.le&, "ohannes (1!#1-1%$0) Nature uses as little as possible of anything. >e,nes, "ohn Ma,na&d It has been pointed out already that no knowledge of probabilities, less in degree than certainty, helps us to know what conclusions are true, and that there is no direct relation between the truth of a proposition and its probability. 3robability begins and ends with probability. %he Application of .robability to Con"uct. >leinhen2, 0obe&t ". <hen asked what it was like to set about proving something, the mathematician likened proving a theorem to seeing the peak of a mountain and trying to climb to the top. Ane establishes a base camp and begins scaling the mountain,s sheer face, encountering obstacles at every turn, often retracing one,s steps and struggling every foot of the 0ourney. Finally when the top is reached, one stands e(amining the peak, taking in the view of the surrounding countrysideand then noting the automobile road up the other sideK >line, Mo&&is 8 proof tells us where to concentrate our doubts. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. >line, Mo&&is Statistics the mathematical theory of ignorance. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&.

>line, Mo&&is 7ogic is the art of going wrong with confidence. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. >line, Mo&&is 6niversities hire professors the way some men choose wives = they want the ones the others will admire. -hy the .rofessor Can't %each$ St. !artin,s 3ress, #$)). p $%. >oestle&, A&thu& (190!- ) In the inde( to the si( hundred odd pages of 8rnold .oynbee,s 8 Study of "istory, abridged version, the names of ;opernicus, Galileo, Cescartes and Newton do not occur yet their cosmic /uest destroyed the medieval vision of an immutable social order in a walled=in universe and transformed the +uropean landscape, society, culture, habits and general outlook, as thoroughly as if a new species had arisen on this planet. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. >oestle&, A&thu& (190!- ) Nobody before the 3ythagoreans had thought that mathematical relations held the secret of the universe. .wenty=five centuries later, +urope is still blessed and cursed with their heritage. .o non=+uropean civili-ations, the idea that numbers are the key to both wisdom and power, seems never to have occurred. %he 9leepwal(ers$ #$>$. >o3ale3s),, -onCa Say what you know, do what you must, come what may. D!otto on her paper :An the 3roblem of the 2otation of a Solid 'ody about a Fi(ed 3oint.:E >&a't, 9&in2 2u Hohlenlohe-Gn el'in en (182# - 1892) !athematics is indeed dangerous in that it absorbs students to such a degree that it dulls their senses to everything else. 8ttributed by Narl Schellbach. In ". +ves )athematical Circles A"ieu, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)). >&onec)e&, <eo.old (182$ - 1891) God made the integers, all else is the work of man. Gahresberichte "er ;eutschen )athemati(er Bereinigung$ >&onec)e&, <eo.old (182$-1891) Number theorists are like lotus=eaters == having once tasted of this food they can never give it up. In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. <a 5ouche, M&s. I do hate sums. .here is no greater mistake than to call arithmetic an e(act science. .here are permutations and aberrations discernible to minds entirely noble like mineF subtle variations which ordinary accountants fail to discoverF hidden laws of number which it re/uires a mind like mine to perceive. For instance, if you add a sum from the bottom up, and then from the top down, the result is always different. )athematical Ga*ette, v. #%. <a;&an e, "ose.h-<ouis .he reader will find no figures in this work. .he methods which I set forth do not re/uire either constructions or geometrical or mechanical reasonings but only algebraic operations, sub0ect to a regular and uniform rule of procedure. 3reface to )Ccanique Analytique$ <a;&an e, "ose.h-<ouis Dsaid about the chemist 7avoisier E It took the mob only a moment to remove his headF a century will not suffice to

reproduce it. ". +ves An ,ntro"uction to the <istory of )athematics, 6th #"$, Saunders. <a;&an e, "ose.h-<ouis <hen we ask advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice. <a)atos, Gm&e .hat sometimes clear ... and sometimes vague stuff ... which is ... mathematics. In 3. Cavis and 2. "ersh %he )athematical #xperience, 'oston 'irkhPuser, #$&#. <anc2os, *o&nelius !ost of the arts, as painting, sculpture, and music, have emotional appeal to the general public. .his is because these arts can be e(perienced by some one or more of our senses. Such is not true of the art of mathematicsF this art can be appreciated only by mathematicians, and to become a mathematician re/uires a long period of intensive training. .he community of mathematicians is similar to an imaginary community of musical composers whose only satisfaction is obtained by the interchange among themselves of the musical scores they compose. In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. <andau, 4. D8sked for a testimony to the effect that +mmy Noether was a great woman mathematician, he said E I can testify that she is a great mathematician, but that she is a woman, I cannot swear. *.+. 7ittlewood, A )athematician's )iscellany, !ethuen and ;o ltd., #$>?. <andau, -usan .here,s a touch of the priesthood in the academic world, a sense that a scholar should not be distracted by the mundane tasks of day=to=day living. I used to have great stretches of time to work. Now I have research thoughts while making peanut butter and 0elly sandwiches. Sure it,s impossible to write down ideas while reading :curious George: to a two=year=old. An the other hand, as my husband was leaving graduate school for his first 0ob, his thesis advisor told him, :You may wonder how a professor gets any research done when one has to teach, advise students, serve on committees, referee papers, write letters of recommendation, interview prospective faculty. <ell, I take long showers.: ,n <er /wn -or"s: 9ix )athematicians Comment on %heir Li!es an" Careers$ Notices of the 8!S, M. ?&, no. ) 4September #$$#5, p. )9@. <an , And&e: (18((-1912) "e uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp posts == for support rather than illumination. %reasury of <umorous @uotations$ <an e&, 0udo.h 4. Dabout FourierE It was, no doubt, partially because of his very disregard for rigor that he was able to take conceptual steps which were inherently impossible to men of more critical genius. In 3. Cavis and 2. "ersh %he )athematical #xperience, 'oston 'irkhPuser, #$&#. <ao 52e (%0(-!$1 /.*.) 8 good calculator does not need artificial aids. %ao %e Ching, ch %). de <a.lace, 9ie&&e--imon (1#(9 - 182#) <hat we know is not much. <hat we do not know is immense. 48llegedly his last words.5 Ce!organ,s :u"get of .ara"oxes. de <a.lace, 9ie&&e--imon (1#(9 - 182#) D"is last words, according to Ce !organ E

!an follows only phantoms. Ce!organ,s :u"get of .ara"oxes. de <a.lace, 9ie&&e--imon (1#(9 - 182#) Nature laughs at the difficulties of integration. In *. <. Nrutch :.he ;olloid and the ;rystal:, in I. Gordon and S. Sorkin 4eds.5 %he Armchair 9cience +ea"er, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>$. de <a.lace, 9ie&&e--imon (1#(9 - 182#) 2ead +uler he is our master in everything. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. de <a.lace, 9ie&&e--imon (1#(9 - 182#) Such is the advantage of a well constructed language that its simplified notation often becomes the source of profound theories. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. de <a.lace, 9ie&&e--imon (1#(9 - 182#) Napoleon You have written this huge book on the system of the world without once mentioning the author of the universe. 7aplace Sire, I had no need of that hypothesis. 7ater when told by Napoleon about the incident, 7agrange commented 8h, but that is a fine hypothesis. It e(plains so many things. Ce!organ,s :u"get of .ara"oxes. de <a.lace, 9ie&&e--imon (1#(9 - 182#) Dsaid about Napier,s logarithms E ...by shortening the labors doubled the life of the astronomer. In ". +ves ,n )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$B$. de <a.lace, 9ie&&e--imon (1#(9 - 182#) It is India that gave us the ingenious method of e(pressing all numbers by means of ten symbols, each symbol receiving a value of position as well as an absolute valueF a profound and important idea which appears so simple to us now that we ignore its true merit. 'ut its very simplicity and the great ease which it has lent to computations put our arithmetic in the first rank of useful inventionsF and we shall appreciate the grandeur of the achievement the more when we remember that it escaped the genius of 8rchimedes and 8pollonius, two of the greatest men produced by anti/uity. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. <each, 4dmund 0onald (1910 - 1989) "ow can a modern anthropologist embark upon a generali-ation with any hope of arriving at a satisfactory conclusionG 'y thinking of the organi-ational ideas that are present in any society as a mathematical pattern. +ethin(ing Anthropology. #$B#. <eacoc), -te.hen "ow can you shorten the sub0ectG .hat stern struggle with the multiplication table, for many people not yet ended in victory, how can you make it lessG S/uare root, as obdurate as a hardwood stump in a pasturenothing but years of effort can e(tract it. You can,t hurry the process. Ar pass from arithmetic to algebraF you can,t shoulder your way past /uadratic e/uations or ripple through the binomial theorem. Instead, the other wayF your feet are impeded in the tangled growth, your pace slackens, you sink and fall somewhere near the binomial theorem with the calculus in sight on the hori-on. So died, for each of us, still bravely fighting, our mathematical trainingF e(cept for a set of people called :mathematicians: == born so, like crooks. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. <ebes ue, Hen&i (18#! - 19(1) In my opinion, a mathematician, in so far as he is a mathematician, need not preoccupy himself with philosophy == an opinion, moreover, which has been e(pressed

by many philosophers. 9cientific American, %##, September #$B@, p. #%$. <eh&e&, 5homas And&e: (1928- ) In one word he told me the secret of success in mathematics plagiari-e only be sure always to call it please research. Lobache!s(i 48 musical recording.5 <eibni2, ;ott'&ied +hilhem (1%(%-1#1%) Dabout him E It is rare to find learned men who are clean, do not stink and have a sense of humour. Dattributed variously to ;harles 7ouis de Secondat !ontes/uieu and to the Cuchess of ArlOansE <eibni2, ;ott'&ied +hilhem (1%(%-1#1%) Nothing is more important than to see the sources of invention which are, in my opinion more interesting than the inventions themselves. *. Noenderink, 9oli" 9hape, ;ambridge !ass. !I. 3ress, #$$9. <eibni2, ;ott'&ied +hilhem (1%(%-1#1%) !usic is the pleasure the human soul e(periences from counting without being aware that it is counting. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. <eibni2, ;ott'&ied +hilhem (1%(%-1#1%) .he imaginary number is a fine and wonderful recourse of the divine spirit, almost an amphibian between being and not being. <eibni2, ;ott'&ied +hilhem (1%(%-1#1%) "e who understands 8rchimedes and 8pollonius will admire less the achievements of the foremost men of later times. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. <eibni2, ;ott'&ied +hilhem (1%(%-1#1%) In symbols one observes an advantage in discovery which is greatest when they e(press the e(act nature of a thing briefly and, as it were, picture itF then indeed the labor of thought is wonderfully diminished. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. <eibni2, ;ott'&ied +hilhem (1%(%-1#1%) .he art of discovering the causes of phenomena, or true hypothesis, is like the art of decyphering, in which an ingenious con0ecture greatly shortens the road. &ew #ssays Concerning <uman n"erstan"ing, IM, RII. <eibni2, ;ott'&ied +hilhem (1%(%-1#1%) 8lthough the whole of this life were said to be nothing but a dream and the physical world nothing but a phantasm, I should call this dream or phantasm real enough, if, using reason well, we were never deceived by it. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. <eibni2, ;ott'&ied +hilhem (1%(%-1#1%) .he soul is the mirror of an indestructible universe. %he )ona"ology$ da Einci, <eona&do (1(!2-1!19) <hoever despises the high wisdom of mathematics nourishes himself on delusion and will never still the sophistic sciences whose only product is an eternal uproar. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. da Einci, <eona&do (1(!2 - 1!19) !echanics is the paradise of the mathematical sciences, because by means of it one comes to the fruits of mathematics. &oteboo(s, v. #, ch. %9.

da Einci, <eona&do (1(!2-1!19) "e who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may cast. da Einci, <eona&do (1(!2-1!19) No human investigation can be called real science if it cannot be demonstrated mathematically. da Einci, <eona&do (1(!2-1!19) Ine/uality is the cause of all local movements. <e,bou&n, +illiam (1%2%-1#00) 'ut leaving those of the 'ody, I shall proceed to such 2ecreation as adorn the !indF of which those of the !athematicks are inferior to none. .leasure with .rofit, #B$@. <ichtenbe& , ;eo& *h&isto.h (1#(2 - 1#99) 8ll mathematical laws which we find in Nature are always suspect to me, in spite of their beauty. .hey give me no pleasure. .hey are merely au(iliaries. 8t close range it is all not true. In * 3 Stern Lichtenberg, #$>$. <ichtenbe& , ;eo& *h&isto.h (1#(2 - 1#99) .he great trick of regarding small departures from the truth as the truth itself == on which is founded the entire integral calculus == is also the basis of our witty speculations, where the whole thing would often collapse if we considered the departures with philosophical rigour. Aphorisms$ <ichtenbe& , ;eo& *h&isto.h (1#(2 - 1#99) In mathematical analysis we call x the undetermined part of line a the rest we don,t call y, as we do in common life, but a1x. "ence mathematical language has great advantages over the common language. <ichtenbe& , ;eo& *h&isto.h (1#(2 - 1#99) I have often noticed that when people come to understand a mathematical proposition in some other way than that of the ordinary demonstration, they promptly say, :Ah, I see. .hat,s how it must be.: .his is a sign that they e(plain it to themselves from within their own system. le <ionnais, 1&ancois <ho has not be ama-ed to learn that the function y I eQ( , like a phoeni( rising again from its own ashes, is its own derivativeG Great Currents of )athematical %hought, !ol$ 0, New York Cover 3ublications. <i..man, ;ab&iel (18(!-1921) DAn the Gaussian curve, remarked to 3oincarO E +(perimentalists think that it is a mathematical theorem while the mathematicians believe it to be an e(perimental fact. In C,8rcy .hompson /n Growth an" Aorm, #$#). <ittle:ood, ". 4. (188! -19##) It is true that I should have been surprised in the past to learn that 3rofessor "ardy had 0oined the A(ford Group. 'ut one could not say the adverse chance was # #9. !athematics is a dangerous professionF an appreciable proportion of us go mad, and then this particular event would be /uite likely. A )athematician's )iscellany, !ethuen and ;o. ltd., #$>?. <ittle:ood, ". 4. (188! -19##) 8 good mathematical 0oke is better, and better mathematics, than a do-en mediocre papers. A )athematician's )iscellany, !ethuen and ;o. ltd., #$>?.

<ittle:ood, ". 4. (188! -19##) I recall once saying that when I had given the same lecture several times I couldn,t help feeling that they really ought to know it by now. A )athematician's )iscellany, !ethuen and ;o. ltd., #$>?. <ittle:ood, ". 4. (188! -19##) In passing, I firmly believe that research should be offset by a certain amount of teaching, if only as a change from the agony of research. .he trouble, however, I freely admit, is that in practice you get either no teaching, or else far too much. :.he !athematician,s 8rt of <ork: in 'Ola 'ollobLs 4ed.5 Littlewoo"'s )iscellany, ;ambridge ;ambridge 6niversity 3ress, #$&B. <ittle:ood, ". 4. (188! -19##) It is possible for a mathematician to be :too strong: for a given occasion. "e forces through, where another might be driven to a different, and possible more fruitful, approach. 4So a rock climber might force a dreadful crack, instead of finding a subtle and delicate route.5 A )athematician's )iscellany, !ethuen and ;o. ltd., #$>?. <ittle:ood, ". 4. (188! -19##) I constantly meet people who are doubtful, generally without due reason, about their potential capacity Das mathematiciansE. .he first test is whether you got anything out of geometry. .o have disliked or failed to get on with other DmathematicalE sub0ects need mean nothingF much drill and drudgery is unavoidable before they can get started, and bad teaching can make them unintelligible even to a born mathematician. A )athematician's )iscellany, !ethuen and ;o. ltd., #$>?. <ittle:ood, ". 4. (188! -19##) .he infinitely competent can be uncreative. In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. <ittle:ood, ". 4. (188! -19##) In presenting a mathematical argument the great thing is to give the educated reader the chance to catch on at once to the momentary point and take details for granted his successive mouthfuls should be such as can be swallowed at sightF in case of accidents, or in case he wishes for once to check in detail, he should have only a clearly circumscribed little problem to solve 4e.g. to check an identity two trivialities omitted can add up to an impasse5. .he unpractised writer, even after the dawn of a conscience, gives him no such chanceF before he can spot the point he has to tease his way through a ma-e of symbols of which not the tiniest suffi( can be skipped. A )athematician's )iscellany, !ethuen ;o. 7td., #$>?. <ittle:ood, ". 4. (188! -19##) 8 linguist would be shocked to learn that if a set is not closed this does not mean that it is open, or again that :+ is dense in +: does not mean the same thing as :+ is dense in itself:. A )athematician's )iscellany, !ethuen ;o. 7td., #$>?. <ittle:ood, ". 4. (188! -19##) .he surprising thing about this paper is that a man who could write it would. A )athematician's )iscellany, !ethuen ;o. 7td., #$>?. <ittle:ood, ". 4. (188! -19##) 8 precisian professor had the habit of saying :... /uartic polynomial a(Q@Wb(Q?Wc(Q%Wd(We , where e need not be the base of the natural logarithms.: A )athematician's )iscellany, !ethuen ;o. 7td., #$>?. <ittle:ood, ". 4. (188! -19##) I read in the proof sheets of "ardy on 2amanu0an :8s someone said, each of the positive integers was one of his personal friends.: !y reaction was, :I wonder who

said thatF I wish I had.: In the ne(t proof=sheets I read 4what now stands5, :It was 7ittlewood who said...: A )athematician's )iscellany, !ethuen ;o. 7td, #$>?. <ittle:ood, ". 4. (188! -19##) <e come finally, however, to the relation of the ideal theory to real world, or :real: probability. If he is consistent a man of the mathematical school washes his hands of applications. .o someone who wants them he would say that the ideal system runs parallel to the usual theory :If this is what you want, try it it is not my business to 0ustify application of the systemF that can only be done by philosophi-ingF I am a mathematician:. In practice he is apt to say :try thisF if it works that will 0ustify it:. 'ut now he is not merely philosophi-ingF he is committing the characteristic fallacy. Inductive e(perience that the system works is not evidence. A )athematician's )iscellany, !ethuen ;o. 7td, #$>?. <ittle:ood, ". 4. (188! -19##) .he theory of numbers is particularly liable to the accusation that some of its problems are the wrong sort of /uestions to ask. I do not myself think the danger is seriousF either a reasonable amount of concentration leads to new ideas or methods of obvious interest, or else one 0ust leaves the problem alone. :3erfect numbers: certainly never did any good, but then they never did any particular harm. A )athematician's )iscellany, !ethuen ;o. 7td., #$>?. <obatche3s),, Ni)olai .here is no branch of mathematics, however abstract, which may not some day be applied to phenomena of the real world. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. <oc)e, "ohn ...mathematical proofs, like diamonds, are hard and clear, and will be touched with nothing but strict reasoning. C. 'urton, #lementary &umber %heory, 'oston 8llyn and 'acon #$&9. <uthe&, Ma&tin (1(8$-1!(%) !edicine makes people ill, mathematics make them sad and theology makes them sinful. Mach, 4&nst (18$8 - 191%) 8rchimedes constructing his circle pays with his life for his defective biological adaptation to immediate circumstances. Mach, 4&nst (18$8-191%) .he mathematician who pursues his studies without clear views of this matter, must often have the uncomfortable feeling that his paper and pencil surpass him in intelligence. :.he +conomy of Science: in *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Mac)a,, Alan <indsa, (192%- ) 7ike the ski resort full of girls hunting for husbands and husbands hunting for girls, the situation is not as symmetrical as it might seem. A ;ictionary of 9cientific @uotations, 'ristol IA3 3ublishing, #$$#. Mac)a,, *ha&les (181(-1889) .ruth ... and if mine eyes ;an bear its bla-e, and trace its symmetries, !easure its distance, and its advent wait, I am no prophet == I but calculate. %he .oetical -or(s of Charles )ac(ay. #&)B. Maist&e "ose.h Ma&ie de (1#!$ - 1821) .he concept of number is the obvious distinction between the beast and man. .hanks

to number, the cry becomes a song, noise ac/uires rhythm, the spring is transformed into a dance, force becomes dynamic, and outlines figures. Mann, 5homas (18#!-19!!) 8 great truth is a truth whose opposite is also a great truth. #ssay on Areu". #$?). Mann, 5homas (18#!-19!!) I tell them that if they will occupy themselves with the study of mathematics they will find in it the best remedy against the lusts of the flesh. %he )agic )ountain. #$%). Mann, 5homas (18#!-19!!) Some of the men stood talking in this room, and at the right of the door a little knot had formed round a small table, the center of which was the mathematics student, who ws eagerly talking. "e had made the assertion that one could draw through a given point more than one parallel to a straight lineF Frau "agenstrVm had cried out that this was impossible, and he had gone on to prove it so conclusively that his hearers were constrained to behave as though they understood. Little <err Arie"emann. Mathesis, Ad&ian If your new theorem can be stated with great simplicity, then there will e(ist a pathological e(ception. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. Mathesis, Ad&ian 8ll great theorems were discovered after midnight. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. Mathesis, Ad&ian .he greatest unsolved theorem in mathematics is why some people are better at it than others. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. Matthias, /e&nd 5 If you see a formula in the 3hysical 2eview that e(tends over a /uarter of a page, forget it. It,s wrong. Nature isn,t that complicated. MaB:ell, "ames *le&) (181$-18#9) ... that, in a few years, all great physical constants will have been appro(imately estimated, and that the only occupation which will be left to men of science will be to carry these measurements to another place of decimals. 9cientific .apers %, %@@, Actober #&)#. Ma,e&, Ma&ia ;oe..e&t (190% -19#2) !athematics began to seem too much like pu--le solving. 3hysics is pu--le solving, too, but of pu--les created by nature, not by the mind of man. *. Cash, )aria Goeppert1)ayer, A Life of /ne's /wn$ McDu'', Dusa Gel,fand ama-ed me by talking of mathematics as though it were poetry. "e once said about a long paper bristling with formulas that it contained the vague beginnings of an idea which could only hint at and which he had never managed to bring out more clearly. I had always thought of mathematics as being much more straightforward a formula is a formula, and an algebra is an algebra, but Gel,fand found hedgehogs lurking in the rows of his spectral se/uencesK )athematical &otices v. ?&, no. ?, !arch #$$#, pp. #&>=). Mc-hane, 4. ". .here are in this world optimists who feel that any symbol that starts off with an integral sign must necessarily denote something that will have every property that they should like an integral to possess. .his of course is /uite annoying to us rigorous

mathematiciansF what is even more annoying is that by doing so they often come up with the right answer. :ulletin of the American )athematical 9ociety, v. B$, p. B##, #$B?. Menc)en, H. <. (1880 - 19!%) It is now /uite lawful for a ;atholic woman to avoid pregnancy by a resort to mathematics, though she is still forbidden to resort to physics and chemistry. &oteboo(s, :!inority 2eport:. Me&min, N. Da3id (19$! -) 'ridges would not be safer if only people who knew the proper definition of a real number were allowed to design them. :.opological .heory of Cefects: in +e!iew of )o"ern .hysics, v. ># no. ?, *uly #$)$. Milla,, 4dna -t. Eincent (1892 - 19!0) +uclid alone has looked on 'eauty bare. 7et all who prate of 'eauty hold their peace, 8nd lay them prone upon the earth and cease .o ponder on themselves, the while they stare 8t nothing, intricately drawn nowhere In shapes of shifting lineageF let geese Gabble and hiss, but heroes seek release From dusty bondage into luminous air. A blinding hour, A holy, terrible day, <hen first the shaft into his vision shone Af light anatomi-edK +uclid alone "as looked on 'eauty bare. Fortunate they <ho, though once only and then but far away, "ave heard her massive sandal set on stone. Milton, "ohn (1%08 - 1%#() From !an or 8ngel the great 8rchitect Cid wisely to conceal, and not divulge, "is secrets, to be scanned by them who ought 2ather admire. Ar, if they list to try ;on0ecture, he his fabric of the "eavens "ath left to their disputes == perhaps to move "is laughter at their /uaint opinions wide "ereafter, when they come to model "eaven 8nd calculate the stars how they will wield .he mighty frame how build, unbuild, contrive .o save appearancesF how gird the Sphere <ith ;entric and +ccentric scribbled o,er, ;ycle and +picycle, Arb in Arb. .ara"ise Lost. Milton, "ohn (1%08-1%#() ;haos umpire sits 8nd by decision more embroils the fray by which he reigns ne(t him high arbiter ;hance governs all. Min)o:s)i, He&man From henceforth, space by itself, and time by itself, have vanished into the merest shadows and only a kind of blend of the two e(ists in its own right.

In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Mins),, Ma&3in <ee (192# -) 7ogic doesn,t apply to the real world. C. 2. "ofstadter and C. ;. Cennett 4eds.5 %he )in"'s ,, #$&#. Mitchell, Ma& a&et ...She knew only that if she did or said thus=and=so, men would unerringly respond with the complimentary thus=and=so. It was like a mathematical formula and no more difficult, for mathematics was the one sub0ect that had come easy to Scarlett in her schooldays. Gone -ith the -in"$ Mitta -<e''le&, ;Fsta .he mathematician,s best work is art, a high perfect art, as daring as the most secret dreams of imagination, clear and limpid. !athematical genius and artistic genius touch one another. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. Mo&dell, <.". Neither you nor I nor anybody else knows what makes a mathematician tick. It is not a /uestion of cleverness. I know many mathematicians who are far abler than I am, but they have not been so lucky. 8n illustration may be given by considering two miners. Ane may be an e(pert geologist, but he does not find the golden nuggets that the ignorant miner does. In ". +ves )athematical Circles A"ieu, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)). Moo&e, 4.H. (18%2 - 19$2) <e lay down a fundamental principle of generali-ation by abstraction :.he e(istence of analogies between central features of various theories implies the e(istence of a general theory which underlies the particular theories and unifies them with respect to those central features....: In ". +ves )athematical Circles +e!isite", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)#. Mo&one,, M.". .he words figure and fictitious both derive from the same 7atin root, fingere$ 'ewareK Aacts from Aigures$ Muelle&, Gan Dabout "ypatia E In an era in which the domain of intellect and politics were almost e(clusively male, .heon Dher fatherE was an unusually liberated person who taught an unusually gifted daughter and encouraged her to achieve things that, as far as we know, no woman before her did or perhaps even dreamed of doing. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. Na.oleon (1#%9-1821) 8 mathematician of the first rank, 7aplace /uickly revealed himself as only a mediocre administratorF from his first work we saw that we had been deceived. 7aplace saw no /uestion from its true point of viewF he sought subtleties everywhereF had only doubtful ideas, and finally carried the spirit of the infinitely small into administration. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc.,#$&&. Nebeuts, 4. >im .each to the the problems, not to the te(t. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. Nebeuts, 4. >im .o state a theorem and then to show e(amples of it is literally to teach backwards. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&.

Nebeuts, 4. >im 8 good preparation takes longer than the delivery. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. Neumann, 1&an2 4&nst (1#98 - 189!) .he greatest reward lies in making the discoveryF recognition can add little or nothing to that. 3on Neumann, "ohann (190$ - 19!#) In mathematics you don,t understand things. You 0ust get used to them. In G. Xukav %he ;ancing -u Li )asters. Ne:man, "ames 0. .he most painful thing about mathematics is how far away you are from being able to use it after you have learned it. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Ne:man, "ames, 0. .he discovery in #&@B of the planet Neptune was a dramatic and spectacular achievement of mathematical astronomy. .he very e(istence of this new member of the solar system, and its e(act location, were demonstrated with pencil and paperF there was left to observers only the routine task of pointing their telescopes at the spot the mathematicians had marked. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Ne:man, "ames 0. It is hard to know what you are talking about in mathematics, yet no one /uestions the validity of what you say. .here is no other realm of discourse half so /ueer. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Ne:man, "ames 0. !athematical economics is old enough to be respectable, but not all economists respect it. It has powerful supporters and impressive testimonials, yet many capable economists deny that mathematics, e(cept as a shorthand or e(pository device, can be applied to economic reasoning. .here have even been rumors that mathematics is used in economics 4and in other social sciences5 either for the deliberate purpose of mystification or to confer dignity upon common places as French was once used in diplomatic communications. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New Yorl Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Ne:man, "ames 0. .o be sure, mathematics can be e(tended to any branch of knowledge, including economics, provided the concepts are so clearly defined as to permit accurate symbolic representation. .hat is only another way of saying that in some branches of discourse it is desirable to know what you are talking about. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Ne:man, "ames 0. .he .heory of Groups is a branch of mathematics in which one does something to something and then compares the result with the result obtained from doing the same thing to something else, or something else to the same thing. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Ne:man, "ames 0. Games are among the most interesting creations of the human mind, and the analysis of their structure is full of adventure and surprises. 6nfortunately there is never a lack

of mathematicians for the 0ob of transforming delectable ingredients into a dish that tastes like a damp blanket. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Ne:ton, Gsaac (1%(2-1#2#) ...from the same principles, I now demonstrate the frame of the System of the <orld. .rincipia )athematica$ Ne:ton, Gsaac (1%(2-1#2#) "ypotheses non fingo. I feign no hypotheses. .rincipia )athematica$ Ne:ton, Gsaac (1%(2-1#2#) .o e(plain all nature is too difficult a task for any one man or even for any one age. S.is much better to do a little with certainty, and leave the rest for others hat come after you, than to e(plain all things. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. Ne:ton, Gsaac (1%(2-1#2#) .he description of right lines and circles, upon which geometry is founded, belongs to mechanics. Geometry does not teach us to draw these lines, but re/uires them to be drawn. .rincipia )athematica$ Ne:ton, Gsaac (1%(2-1#2#) .he latest authors, like the most ancient, strove to subordinate the phenomena of nature to the laws of mathematics. Ne:ton, Gsaac (1%(2-1#2#) D"is epitaph E <ho, by vigor of mind almost divine, the motions and figures of the planets, the paths of comets, and the tides of the seas first demonstrated. 5homas 0. Nicel, 6sually mathematicians have to shoot somebody to get this much publicity. DAn the attention he received after finding the flaw in Intel,s 3entium chip in #$$@E Cincinnati #nquirer, Cecember #&, #$$@, Section 8, page #$. Ni htin ale, 1lo&ence (1820-1910) DAf her E "er statistics were more than a study, they were indeed her religion. For her Juetelet was the hero as scientist, and the presentation copy of his 3hysi/ue sociale is annotated by her on every page. Florence Nightingale believed == and in all the actions of her life acted upon that belief == that the administrator could only be successful if he were guided by statistical knowledge. .he legislator == to say nothing of the politician == too often failed for want of this knowledge. Nay, she went furtherF she held that the universe == including human communities == was evolving in accordance with a divine planF that it was man,s business to endeavor to understand this plan and guide his actions in sympathy with it. 'ut to understand God,s thoughts, she held we must study statistics, for these are the measure of "is purpose. .hus the study of statistics was for her a religious duty. N. 3earson %he Life, Letters an" Labours for Arancis Galton, vol. %, #$%@. Ha)le,, *.H. .he study of mathematics cannot be replaced by any other activity that will train and develop man,s purely logical faculties to the same level of rationality. %he American )athematical )onthly, >B, #$@$, p#$. H ,u, -o&ai (1%%% - 1#29) !athematicians boast of their e(acting achievements, but in reality they are absorbed

in mental acrobatics and contribute nothing to society. Complete -or(s on Gapan's .hilosophical %hought . #$>B. H..enheime&, "ulius 0obe&t (190( - 19%#) .oday, it is not only that our kings do not know mathematics, but our philosophers do not know mathematics and == to go a step further == our mathematicians do not know mathematics. :.he .ree of Nnowledge: in <arper's, %#), #$>&. Hs ood, +. 1. .he calculus is the greatest aid we have to the application of physical truth in the broadest sense of the word. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) <e are usually convinced more easily by reasons we have found ourselves than by those which have occurred to others. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) It is the heart which perceives God and not the reason. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) !an is e/ually incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) Aur nature consists in movementF absolute rest is death. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) !an is full of desires he loves only those who can satisfy them all. :.his man is a good mathematician,: someone will say. 'ut I have no concern for mathematicsF he would take me for a proposition. :.hat one is a good soldier.: "e would take me for a besieged town. I need, that is to say, a decent man who can accommodate himself to all my desires in a general sort of way. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) <e run carelessly to the precipice, after we have put something before us to prevent us from seeing it. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) <e do not worry about being respected in towns through which we pass. 'ut if we are going to remain in one for a certain time, we do worry. "ow long does this time have to beG <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) Few men speak humbly of humility, chastely of chastity, skeptically of skepticism. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) .hose who write against vanity want the glory of having written well, and their readers the glory of reading well, and I who write this have the same desire, as perhaps those who read this have also.

<. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) Aur notion of symmetry is derived form the human face. "ence, we demand symmetry hori-ontally and in breadth only, not vertically nor in depth. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) <hen we encounter a natural style we are always surprised and delighted, for we thought to see an author and found a man. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) +verything that is written merely to please the author is worthless. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) I cannot 0udge my work while I am doing it. I have to do as painters do, stand back and view it from a distance, but not too great a distance. "ow greatG Guess. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) ;ontradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) 8ll err the more dangerously because each follows a truth. .heir mistake lies not in following a falsehood but in not following another truth. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) 3erfect clarity would profit the intellect but damage the will. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) .hose who are accustomed to 0udge by feeling do not understand the process of reasoning, because they want to comprehend at a glance and are not used to seeking for first principles. .hose, on the other hand, who are accustomed to reason from first principles do not understand matters of feeling at all, because they look for first principles and are unable to comprehend at a glance. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) .o deny, to believe, and to doubt well are to a man as the race is to a horse. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) <ords differently arranged have a different meaning and meanings differently arranged have a different effect. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB.

9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) Nature is an infinite sphere of which the center is everywhere and the circumference nowhere. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) <e arrive at truth, not by reason only, but also by the heart. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) <hen the passions become masters, they are vices. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) !en despise religionF they hate it, and they fear it is true. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) 2eligion is so great a thing that it is right that those who will not take the trouble to seek it if it be obscure, should be deprived of it. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) It is not certain that everything is uncertain. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) <e are so presumptuous that we should like to be known all over the world, even by people who will only come when we are no more. Such is our vanity that the good opinion of half a do-en of the people around us gives us pleasure and satisfaction. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) .he sole cause of man,s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay /uietly in his room. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) 2eason,s last step is the recognition that there are an infinite number of things which are beyond it. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) .hrough space the universe grasps me and swallows me up like a speckF through thought I grasp it. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) 7et no one say that I have said nothing new... the arrangement of the sub0ect is new. <hen we play tennis, we both play with the same ball, but one of us places it better. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) .he e(citement that a gambler feels when making a bet is e/ual to the amount he might win times the probability of winning it. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) 2eason is the slow and tortuous method by which these who do not know the truth discover it. .he heart has its own reason which reason does not know. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) 2everend Fathers, my letters did not usually follow each other at such close intervals, nor were they so long.... .his one would not be so long had I but the leisure to make it

shorter. Lettres pro!inciales$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) .he last thing one knows when writing a book is what to put first. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) <hat is man in natureG Nothing in relation to the infinite, all in relation to nothing, a mean between nothing and everything. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) DI feelE engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces whereof I know nothing, and which know nothing of me, I am terrified .he eternal silence of these infinite spaces alarms me. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) 7et us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. 7et us consider the two possibilities. If you gain, you gain allF if you lose, you lose nothing. "esitate not, then, to wager that "e is. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) 7ook somewhere else for someone who can follow you in your researches about numbers. For my part, I confess that they are far beyond me, and I am competent only to admire them. D<ritten to FermatE In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) .he more I see of men, the better I like my dog. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) .he more intelligent one is, the more men of originality one finds. Ardinary people find no difference between men. .ensees$ 0L84$ 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) "owever vast a man,s spiritual resources, he is capable of but one great passion. ;iscours sur les passions "e l'amour$ #B>?. 9ascal, /laise (1%2$-1%%2) .here are two types of mind ... the mathematical, and what might be called the intuitive. .he former arrives at its views slowly, but they are firm and rigidF the latter is endowed with greater fle(ibility and applies itself simultaneously to the diverse lovable parts of that which it loves. ;iscours sur les passions "e l'amour. #B>?. 9assano, <.M. .his trend Demphasi-ing applied mathematics over pure mathematicsE will make the /ueen of the sciences into the /uean of the sciences. In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. 9asteu&, <ouis ;hance favors only the prepared mind. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. 9ea&son, >a&l .he mathematician, carried along on his flood of symbols, dealing apparently with purely formal truths, may still reach results of endless importance for our description of the physical universe. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&.

9ei&ce, /enCamin (1809-1880) !athematics is the science which draws necessary conclusions. !emoir read before the National 8cademy of Sciences in <ashington, #&)9. 9ei&ce, *ha&les -ande&s (18$9-191() .he one Dthe logicianE studies the science of drawing conclusions, the other Dthe mathematicianE the science which draws necessary conclusions. :.he +ssence of !athematics: in *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. 9ei&ce, *ha&les -ande&s (18$9-191() ...mathematics is distinguished from all other sciences e(cept only ethics, in standing in no need of ethics. +very other science, even logic, especially in its early stages, is in danger of evaporating into airy nothingness, degenerating, as the Germans say, into an arachnoid film, spun from the stuff that dreams are made of. .here is no such danger for pure mathematicsF for that is precisely what mathematics ought to be. :.he +ssence of !athematics: in *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. 9ei&ce, *ha&les -ande&s (18$9-191() 8mong the minor, yet striking characteristics of mathematics, may be mentioned the fleshless and skeletal build of its propositionsF the peculiar difficulty, complication, and stress of its reasoningsF the perfect e(actitude of its resultsF their broad universalityF their practical infallibility. :.he +ssence of !athematics: in *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. 9ei&ce, *ha&les -ande&s (18$9-191() .he pragmatist knows that doubt is an art which hs to be ac/uired with difficulty. Collecte" .apers$ 9ede&sen, "ean Geometry is a skill of the eyes and the hands as well as of the mind. 9lato (ca (29-$(# /*) "e who can properly define and divide is to be considered a god. 9lato (ca (29-$(# /*) .he ludicrous state of solid geometry made me pass over this branch. +epublic, MII, >%&. 9lato (ca (29-$(# /*) "e is unworthy of the name of man who is ignorant of the fact that the diagonal of a s/uare is incommensurable with its side. 9lato (ca (29-$(# /*) !athematics is like checkers in being suitable for the young, not too difficult, amusing, and without peril to the state. 9lato (ca (29-$(# /*) .he knowledge of which geometry aims is the knowledge of the eternal. 2epublic, MII, >%. 9lato (ca (29-$(# /*) I have hardly ever known a mathematician who was capable of reasoning. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 9lato (ca (29-$(# /*) .here still remain three studies suitable for free man. 8rithmetic is one of them. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. 9luta&ch (ca (%-12#) Dabout 8rchimedes E ... being perpetually charmed by his familiar siren, that is, by his geometry, he

neglected to eat and drink and took no care of his personF that he was often carried by force to the baths, and when there he would trace geometrical figures in the ashes of the fire, and with his finger draws lines upon his body when it was anointed with oil, being in a state of great ecstasy and divinely possessed by his science. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. 9oe, 4d a& Allen .o speak algebraically, !r. !. is e(ecrable, but !r. G. is 4( W #5= ecrable. DCiscussing fellow writers ;ornelius !athews and <illiam +llery ;hanning.E In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 9oinca&=, "ules Hen&i (18!(-1912) !athematics is the art of giving the same name to different things. D8s opposed to the /uotation 3oetry is the art of giving different names to the same thingE. 9oinca&=, "ules Hen&i (18!(-1912) 7ater generations will regard !engenlehre 4set theory5 as a disease from which one has recovered. D<hether or not he actually said this is a matter of debate amongst historians of mathematics.E %he )athematical ,ntelligencer, vol #?, no. #, <inter #$$#. 9oinca&=, "ules Hen&i (18!(-1912) <hat is it indeed that gives us the feeling of elegance in a solution, in a demonstrationG It is the harmony of the diverse parts, their symmetry, their happy balanceF in a word it is all that introduces order, all that gives unity, that permits us to see clearly and to comprehend at once both the ensemble and the details. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 9oinca&=, "ules Hen&i (18!(-1912) .hus, be it understood, to demonstrate a theorem, it is neither necessary nor even advantageous to know what it means. .he geometer might be replaced by the :logic piano: imagined by Stanley *evonsF or, if you choose, a machine might be imagined where the assumptions were put in at one end, while the theorems came out at the other, like the legendary ;hicago machine where the pigs go in alive and come out transformed into hams and sausages. No more than these machines need the mathematician know what he does. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. 9oinca&=, "ules Hen&i (18!(-1912) .alk with !. "ermite. "e never evokes a concrete image, yet you soon perceive that the more abstract entities are to him like living creatures. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. 9oinca&=, "ules Hen&i (18!(-1912) Science is built up with facts, as a house is with stones. 'ut a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house. La 9cience et l'hypothMse$ 9oinca&=, "ules Hen&i (18!(-1912) 8 scientist worthy of his name, about all a mathematician, e(periences in his work the same impression as an artistF his pleasure is as great and of the same nature. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 9oinca&=, "ules Hen&i (18!(-1912) .he mathematical facts worthy of being studied are those which, by their analogy with other facts, are capable of leading us to the knowledge of a physical law. .hey reveal the kinship between other facts, long known, but wrongly believed to be

strangers to one another. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 9oinca&=, "ules Hen&i (18!(-1912) !athematicians do not study ob0ects, but relations between ob0ects. .hus, they are free to replace some ob0ects by others so long as the relations remain unchanged. ;ontent to them is irrelevant they are interested in form only. 9oinca&=, "ules Hen&i (18!(-1912) .hought is only a flash between two long nights, but this flash is everything. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. 9oinca&=, "ules Hen&i (18!(-1912) .he mind uses its faculty for creativity only when e(perience forces it to do so. 9oinca&=, "ules Hen&i (18!(-1912) !athematical discoveries, small or greatare never born of spontaneous generation .hey always presuppose a soil seeded with preliminary knowledge and well prepared by labour, both conscious and subconscious. 9oinca&=, "ules Hen&i (18!(-1912) 8bsolute space, that is to say, the mark to which it would be necessary to refer the earth to know whether it really moves, has no ob0ective e(istence.... .he two propositions :.he earth turns round: and :it is more convenient to suppose the earth turns round: have the same meaningF there is nothing more in the one than in the other. La 9cience et l'hypothMse$ 9oinca&=, "ules Hen&i (18!(-1912) ...by natural selection our mind has adapted itself to the conditions of the e(ternal world. It has adopted the geometry most advantageous to the species or, in other words, the most convenient. Geometry is not true, it is advantageous. 9cience an" )etho"$ 9oisson, -im=on (1#81-18(0) 7ife is good for only two things, discovering mathematics and teaching mathematics. )athematics )aga*ine, v. B@, no. #, Feb. #$$#. 9ol,8, ;eo& e (188#, 198!) !athematics consists of proving the most obvious thing in the least obvious way. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 9ol,8, ;eo& e (188#, 198!) .he traditional mathematics professor of the popular legend is absentminded. "e usually appears in public with a lost umbrella in each hand. "e prefers to face the blackboard and to turn his back to the class. "e writes a, he says b, he means cF but it should be d. Some of his sayings are handed down from generation to generation. :In order to solve this differential e/uation you look at it till a solution occurs to you.: :.his principle is so perfectly general that no particular application of it is possible.: :Geometry is the science of correct reasoning on incorrect figures.: :!y method to overcome a difficulty is to go round it.: :<hat is the difference between method and deviceG 8 method is a device which you used twice.: <ow to 9ol!e ,t. 3rinceton 3rinceton 6niversity 3ress. #$@>. 9ol,8, ;eo& e (188#, 198!) !athematics is the cheapest science. 6nlike physics or chemistry, it does not re/uire any e(pensive e/uipment. 8ll one needs for mathematics is a pencil and paper. C. *. 8lbers and G. 7. 8le(anderson, )athematical .eople, 'oston 'irkhPuser, #$&>.

9ol,8, ;eo& e (188#, 198!) .here are many /uestions which fools can ask that wise men cannot answer. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. 9ol,8, ;eo& e (188#, 198!) <hen introduced at the wrong time or place, good logic may be the worst enemy of good teaching. %he American )athematical )onthly, v. #99, no. ?. 9ol,8, ;eo& e (188#, 198!) +ven fairly good students, when they have obtained the solution of the problem and written down neatly the argument, shut their books and look for something else. Coing so, they miss an important and instructive phase of the work. ... 8 good teacher should understand and impress on his students the view that no problem whatever is completely e(hausted. Ane of the first and foremost duties of the teacher is not to give his students the impression that mathematical problems have little connection with each other, and no connection at all with anything else. <e have a natural opportunity to investigate the connections of a problem when looking back at its solution. <ow to 9ol!e ,t. 3rinceton 3rinceton 6niversity 3ress. #$@>. 9ol,8, ;eo& e (188#, 198!) In order to translate a sentence from +nglish into French two things are necessary. First, we must understand thoroughly the +nglish sentence. Second, we must be familiar with the forms of e(pression peculiar to the French language. .he situation is very similar when we attempt to e(press in mathematical symbols a condition proposed in words. First, we must understand thoroughly the condition. Second, we must be familiar with the forms of mathematical e(pression. <ow to 9ol!e ,t. 3rinceton 3rinceton 6niversity 3ress. #$@>. 9o.e, AleBande& (1%88-1#(() +pitaph on Newton Nature and Nature,s law lay hid in night God said, :7et Newton beK,: and all was light. Dadded by Sir *ohn ;ollings S/uire It did not last the Cevil shouting :"o. 7et +instein be,: restored the status /uoE D8aron "ill,s version A,er Nature,s laws God cast the veil of night, Aut bla-,d a Newton,s souland all was light. 9o.e, AleBande& (1%88-1#(() Arder is "eaven,s first law. An #ssay on )an ,B. 9o.e, AleBande& (1%88-1#(() See skulking .ruth to her old cavern fled, !ountains of ;asuistry heap,d o,er her headK 3hilosophy, that lean,d on "eav,n before, Shrinks to her second cause, and is no more. 3hysic of !etaphysic begs defence, 8nd !etaphysic calls for aid on SenseK See !ystery to !athematics flyK In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. 9o&da e, Matthe: Ane of the endearing things about mathematicians is the e(tent to which they will go

to avoid doing any real work. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. 9&oclus Diadochus ((12 - (8!) It is well known that the man who first made public the theory of irrationals perished in a shipwreck in order that the ine(pressible and unimaginable should ever remain veiled. 8nd so the guilty man, who fortuitously touched on and revealed this aspect of living things, was taken to the place where he began and there is for ever beaten by the waves. 9cholium to :oo( = of #ucli" B$ 9u&cell, 4. and Ea&be& , D. .he !ean Malue .heorem is the midwife of calculus == not very important or glamorous by itself, but often helping to delivery other theorems that are of ma0or significance. Calculus with Analytic Geomety, fifth e"ition, +nglewood ;liffs, N* 3rentice "all, #$&). 9ush)in, Ale)sand& -e& e,e3ich (1#99 - 18$#) Inspiration is needed in geometry, 0ust as much as in poetry. Li(htenshtein Quine, +illa&d Ean H&man *ust as the introduction of the irrational numbers ... is a convenient myth DwhichE simplifies the laws of arithmetic ... so physical ob0ects are postulated entities which round out and simplify our account of the flu( of e(istence... .he conceptional scheme of physical ob0ects is DlikewiseE a convenient myth, simpler than the literal truth and yet containing that literal truth as a scattered part. In *. Noenderink 9oli" 9hape, ;ambridge !ass. !I. 3ress, #$$9. 0alei h, ?-i&@ +alte& AleBande& (18%1-1922) In an e(amination those who do not wish to know ask /uestions of those who cannot tell. 9ome %houghts on #xaminations$ 0eco&de, 0obe&t (1!!#) .o avoide the tediouse repetition of these woordes is e/ualle to I will settle as I doe often in woorke use, a paire of paralleles, or gemowe DtwinE lines of one lengthe I, bicause noe .%. thynges, can be moare e/ualle. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. 0eid, 5homas It is the invaluable merit of the great 'asle mathematician 7eonard +uler, to have freed the analytical calculus from all geometric bounds, and thus to have established analysis as an independent science, which from his time on has maintained an unchallenged leadership in the field of mathematics. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 0enan, 4&nest .he simplest schoolboy is now familiar with facts for which 8rchimedes would have sacrificed his life. 9ou!enirs "'enfance et "e ?eunesse$ 0=n,i, Al'&=d If I feel unhappy, I do mathematics to become happy. If I am happy, I do mathematics to keep happy. 3. .urLn, :.he <ork of 8lfrOd 2Onyi:, )atemati(ai Lapo( %#, #$)9, pp #$$ = %#9. 0icha&dson, <e:is 1&, (1881 - 19!$) 8nother advantage of a mathematical statement is that it is so definite that it might be definitely wrongF and if it is found to be wrong, there is a plenteous choice of amendments ready in the mathematicians, stock of formulae. Some verbal statements have not this meritF they are so vague that they could hardly be wrong,

and are correspondingly useless. )athematics of -ar an" Aoreign .olitics$ 0is)in, Ad&ian 4after +dna St. Mincent !illay5 ...+uclid alone "as looked on 'eauty bare. "e turned away at onceF Far too polite to stare. %he )athematical ,ntelligencer, M. #B, no. @ 4Fall #$$@5, p. %9. 0. 0i3est, A. -hami&, and <. Adleman .he magic words are s/ueamish ossifrage D.his sentence is the result when a coded message in !artin Gardner,s column about factoring the famous number 2S8=#%$ is decoded. See the article whose title is the above sentence by 'arry ;ipra, 9,A) &ews *uly #$$@, #, #%=#?.E 0ohault, "ac6ues (1#th centu&,) It was by 0ust such a ha-ard, as if a man should let fall a handful of sand upon a table and the particles of it should be so ranged that we could read distinctly on it a whole page of Mirgil,s 8enead. %raitC "e .hysique, 3aris, #B)#. 0osenblueth, A Dwith Norbert <ienerE .he best material model of a cat is another, or preferably the same, cat. .hilosophy of 9cience #$@>. 0osenlicht, MaB (19(9) You know we all became mathematicians for the same reason we were la-y. Hu o 0ossi In the fall of #$)% 3resident Ni(on announced that the rate of increase of inflation was decreasing. .his was the first time a sitting president used the third derivative to advance his case for reelection. )athematics ,s an #"ifice, &ot a %oolbox , Notices o' the AM-, v. @?, no. #9, Actober #$$B. 0ota, ;ian-ca&lo <e often hear that mathematics consists mainly of :proving theorems.: Is a writer,s 0ob mainly that of :writing sentencesG: In preface to 3. Cavis and 2. "ersh %he )athematical #xperience, 'oston 'irkhPuser, #$&#. 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) "ow dare we speak of the laws of chanceG Is not chance the antithesis of all lawG Calcul "es probabilitCs$ 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) !athematics takes us into the region of absolute necessity, to which not only the actual word, but every possible word, must conform. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) 8lthough this may seem a parado(, all e(act science is dominated by the idea of appro(imation. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) 8t the age of eleven, I began +uclid, with my brother as my tutor. .his was one of the great events of my life, as da--ling as first love. I had not imagined there was anything so delicious in the world. From that moment until I was thirty=eight,

mathematics was my chief interest and my chief source of happiness. %he Autobiography of :ertran" +ussell . 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) 8 good notation has a subtlety and suggestiveness which at times make it almost seem like a live teacher. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) If I were a medical man, I should prescribe a holiday to any patient who considered his work important. %he Autobiography of :ertran" +ussell . 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) Ardinary language is totally unsuited for e(pressing what physics really asserts, since the words of everyday life are not sufficiently abstract. Anly mathematics and mathematical logic can say as little as the physicist means to say. %he 9cientific /utloo(, #$?#. 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) <ith e/ual passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. 8nd I have tried to apprehend the 3ythagorean power by which number holds sway about the flu(. 8 little of this, but not much, I have achieved. %he Autobiography of :ertran" +ussell . 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) 8t first it seems obvious, but the more you think about it the stranger the deductions from this a(iom seem to becomeF in the end you cease to understand what is meant by it. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) ;alculus re/uired continuity, and continuity was supposed to re/uire the infinitely littleF but nobody could discover what the infinitely little might be. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) .he fact that all !athematics is Symbolic 7ogic is one of the greatest discoveries of our ageF and when this fact has been established, the remainder of the principles of mathematics consists in the analysis of Symbolic 7ogic itself. .rinciples of )athematics. #$9?. 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) 8 habit of basing convictions upon evidence, and of giving to them only that degree or certainty which the evidence warrants, would, if it became general, cure most of the ills from which the world suffers. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) .he method of :postulating: what we want has many advantagesF they are the same as the advantages of theft over honest toil. ,ntro"uction to )athematical .hilosophy, New York and 7ondon, #$#$, p )#. 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) 8ristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than menF although he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by e(amining his wives, mouths. %he ,mpact of 9cience on 9ociety, #$>%. 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) D6pon hearing via 7ittlewood an e(position on the theory of relativity E

.o think I have spent my life on absolute muck. *.+. 7ittlewood, A )athematician's )iscellany, !ethuen and ;o. ltd., #$>?. 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) :'ut,: you might say, :none of this shakes my belief that % and % are @.: You are /uite right, e(cept in marginal cases == and it is only in marginal cases that you are doubtful whether a certain animal is a dog or a certain length is less than a meter. .wo must be two of something, and the proposition :% and % are @: is useless unless it can be applied. .wo dogs and two dogs are certainly four dogs, but cases arise in which you are doubtful whether two of them are dogs. :<ell, at any rate there are four animals,: you may say. 'ut there are microorganisms concerning which it is doubtful whether they are animals or plants. :<ell, then living organisms,: you say. 'ut there are things of which it is doubtful whether they are living organisms or not. You will be driven into saying :.wo entities and two entities are four entities.: <hen you have told me what you mean by :entity,: we will resume the argument. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) I wanted certainty in the kind of way in which people want religious faith. I thought that certainty is more likely to be found in mathematics than elsewhere. 'ut I discovered that many mathematical demonstrations, which my teachers e(pected me to accept, were full of fallacies, and that, if certainty were indeed discoverable in mathematics, it would be in a new field of mathematics, with more solid foundations than those that had hitherto been thought secure. 'ut as the work proceeded, I was continually reminded of the fable about the elephant and the tortoise. having constructed an elephant upon which the mathematical world could rest, I found the elephant tottering, and proceeded to construct a tortoise to keep the elephant from falling. 'ut the tortoise was no more secure than the elephant, and after some twenty years of very arduous toil, I came to the conclusion that there was nothing more that I could do in the way of making mathematical knowledge indubitable. .ortraits from )emory$ 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) !en who are unhappy, like men who sleep badly, are always proud of the fact. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) <ork is of two kinds first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth,s surface relatively to other such matterF second, telling other people to do so. .he first kind is unpleasant and ill paidF the second is pleasant and highly paid. 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) 8 sense of duty is useful in work but offensive in personal relations. ;ertain characteristics of the sub0ect are clear. .o begin with, we do not, in this sub0ect, deal with particular things or particular properties we deal formally with what can be said about :any: thing or :any: property. <e are prepared to say that one and one are two, but not that Socrates and 3lato are two, because, in our capacity of logicians or pure mathematicians, we have never heard of Socrates or 3lato. 8 world in which there were no such individuals would still be a world in which one and one are two. It is not open to us, as pure mathematicians or logicians, to mention anything at all, because, if we do so we introduce something irrelevant and not formal. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) .he desire to understand the world and the desire to reform it are the two great

engines of progress. )arriage an" )orals$ 0ussell, /e&t&and (18#2-19#0) It can be shown that a mathematical web of some kind can be woven about any universe containing several ob0ects. .he fact that our universe lends itself to mathematical treatment is not a fact of any great philosophical significance. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. 0uthe&'o&d, 4&nest (18#1-19$#) If your e(periment needs statistics, you ought to have done a better e(periment. In N. .. *. 'ailey the )athematical Approach to :iology an" )e"icine, New York <iley, #$B). -an'o&d, 5. H. .he modern, and to my mind true, theory is that mathematics is the abstract form of the natural sciencesF and that it is valuable as a training of the reasoning powers not because it is abstract, but because it is a representation of actual things. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. -anta,ana, ;eo& e It is a pleasant surprise to him 4the pure mathematician5 and an added problem if he finds that the arts can use his calculations, or that the senses can verify them, much as if a composer found that sailors could heave better when singing his songs. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. -a&ton, ;. .he main duty of the historian of mathematics, as well as his fondest privilege, is to e(plain the humanity of mathematics, to illustrate its greatness, beauty and dignity, and to describe how the incessant efforts and accumulated genius of many generations have built up that magnificent monument, the ob0ect of our most legitimate pride as men, and of our wonder, humility and thankfulness, as individuals. .he study of the history of mathematics will not make better mathematicians but gentler ones, it will enrich their minds, mellow their hearts, and bring out their finer /ualities. -a,e&s, Do&oth, <. .he biologist can push it back to the original protist, and the chemist can push it back to the crystal, but none of them touch the real /uestion of why or how the thing began at all. .he astronomer goes back untold million of years and ends in gas and emptiness, and then the mathematician sweeps the whole cosmos into unreality and leaves one with mind as the only thing of which we have any immediate apprehension. ;ogito ergo sum, ergo omnia esse videntur. 8ll this bother, and we are no further than Cescartes. "ave you noticed that the astronomers and mathematicians are much the most cheerful people of the lotG I suppose that perpetually contemplating things on so vast a scale makes them feel either that it doesn,t matter a hoot anyway, or that anything so large and elaborate must have some sense in it somewhere. <ith 2. +ustace, %he ;ocuments in the Case, New York "arper and 2ow, #$?9, p >@. -cho.enhaue& Af all the intellectual faculties, 0udgment is the last to mature. 8 child under the age of fifteen should confine its attention either to sub0ects like mathematics, in which errors of 0udgment are impossible, or to sub0ects in which they are not very dangerous, like languages, natural science, history, etc. -eneca If you would make a man happy, do not add to his possessions but subtract from the

sum of his desires. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&&. -ha)es.ea&e, +illiam (1!%( - 1%1%) I cannot do it without compDuEters. %he -inter's %ale. -ha)es.ea&e, +illiam (1!%(-1%1%) .hough this be madness, yet there is method in,t. -ha)es.ea&e, +illiam (1!%(-1%1%) A GodK I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams. <amlet$ -ha)es.ea&e, +illiam (1!%(-1%1%) I am ill at these numbers. <amlet$ -ha:, ;eo& e /e&na&d (18!%-19!0) .yndall declared that he saw in !atter the promise and potency of all forms of life, and with his Irish graphic lucidity made a picture of a world of magnetic atoms, each atom with a positive and a negative pole, arranging itself by attraction and repulsion in orderly crystalline structure. Such a picture is dangerously fascinating to thinkers oppressed by the bloody disorders of the living world. ;raving for purer sub0ects of thought, they find in the contemplation of crystals and magnets a happiness more dramatic and less childish than the happiness found by mathematicians in abstract numbers, because they see in the crystals beauty and movement without the corrupting appetites of fleshly vitality. 3reface to :ac( to )ethuselah. -ha:, ". /. .he mathematician is fascinated with the marvelous beauty of the forms he constructs, and in their beauty he finds everlasting truth. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. -immons, ;. 1. !athematical rigor is like clothingF in its style it ought to suit the occasion, and it diminishes comfort and restrains freedom of movement if it is either too loose or too tight. In %he )athematical ,ntelligencer, v. #?, no. #, <inter #$$#. -lau ht, H.4. ...D+.".E !oore ws presenting a paper on a highly technical topic to a large gathering of faculty and graduate students from all parts of the country. <hen half way through he discovered what seemed to be an error 4though probably no one else in the room observed it5. "e stopped and re=e(amined the doubtful step for several minutes and then, convinced of the error, he abruptly dismissed the meeting == to the astonishment of most of the audience. It was an evidence of intellectual courage as well as honesty and doubtless won for him the supreme admiration of every person in the group == an admiration which was in no wise diminished, but rather increased, when at a later meeting he announced that after all he had been able to prove the step to be correct. %he American )athematical )onthly, @9 4#$??5, #$#=#$>. -mith, Adam I have no faith in political arithmetic. -mith, Da3id 4u ene Ane merit of mathematics few will deny it says more in fewer words than any other science. .he formula, eQiHpiF I =# e(pressed a world of thought, of truth, of poetry,

and of the religious spirit :God eternally geometri-es.: In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. -mith, Hen&, "ohn -te.hen (182% - 188$) D"is toast E 3ure mathematics, may it never be of any use to anyone. In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. -mith, Hen&, "ohn -te.hen (182%-188$) It is the peculiar beauty of this method, gentlemen, and one which endears it to the really scientific mind, that under no circumstance can it be of the smallest possible utility. In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. -odd,, 1&ede&ic) (18##-19!%) Four circles to the kissing come, .he smaller are the benter. .he bend is 0ust the inverse of .he distance from the centre. .hough their intrigue left +uclid dumb .here,s now no need for rule of thumb. Since -ero bend,s a dead straight line 8nd concave bends have minus sign, .he sum of s/uares of all four bends Is half the s/uare of their sum. &ature, v. #?), #$?B. -ome&3ille, Ma&, (1#80-18#2) Nothing has afforded me so convincing a proof of the unity of the Ceity as these purely mental conceptions of numerical and mathematical science which have been by slow degrees vouchsafed to man, and are still granted in these latter times by the Cifferential ;alculus, now superseded by the "igher 8lgebra, all of which must have e(isted in that sublimely omniscient !ind from eternity. !artha Somerville 4ed.5 .ersonal +ecollections of )ary 9omer!ille, 'oston, #&)@. -.en le&, Hs:ald (1880 -19$%) .he mathematic, then, is an art. 8s such it has its styles and style periods. It is not, as the layman and the philosopher 4who is in this matter a layman too5 imagine, substantially unalterable, but sub0ect like every art to unnoticed changes form epoch to epoch. .he development of the great arts ought never to be treated without an 4assuredly not unprofitable5 side=glance at contemporary mathematics. %he ;ecline of the -est$ -teine&, ;. For all their wealth of content, for all the sum of history and social institution invested in them, music, mathematics, and chess are resplendently useless 4applied mathematics is a higher plumbing, a kind of music for the police band5. .hey are metaphysically trivial, irresponsible. .hey refuse to relate outward, to take reality for arbiter. .his is the source of their witchery. %he American )athematical )onthly, v. #9#, no. $, November, #$$@. -teinmet2, *ha&les 9. !athematics is the most e(act science, and its conclusions are capable of absolute proof. 'ut this is so only because mathematics does not attempt to draw absolute conclusions. 8ll mathematical truths are relative, conditional. In +. .. 'ell )en of )athematics, New York Simona and Schuster, #$?). -te&nbe& , -. Nepler,s principal goal was to e(plain the relationship between the e(istence of five planets 4and their motions5 and the five regular solids. It is customary to sneer at

Nepler for this. It is instructive to compare this with the current attempts to :e(plain: the -oology of elementary particles in terms of irreducible representations of 7ie groups. -te:a&t, Gan .he successes of the differential e/uation paradigm were impressive and e(tensive. !any problems, including basic and important ones, led to e/uations that could be solved. 8 process of self=selection set in, whereby e/uations that could not be solved were automatically of less interest than those that could. ;oes Go" .lay ;iceH %he )athematics of Chaos$ 'lackwell, ;ambridge, !8, #$&$, p. ?$. -ulli3an, "ohn +illiam Na3in (188% - 19$#) .he mathematician is entirely free, within the limits of his imagination, to construct what worlds he pleases. <hat he is to imagine is a matter for his own capriceF he is not thereby discovering the fundamental principles of the universe nor becoming ac/uainted with the ideas of God. If he can find, in e(perience, sets of entities which obey the same logical scheme as his mathematical entities, then he has applied his mathematics to the e(ternal worldF he has created a branch of science. Aspects of 9cience, #$%>. -ulli3an, "ohn +illiam Na3in (188%-19$#) !athematics, as much as music or any other art, is one of the means by which we rise to a complete self=consciousness. .he significance of mathematics resides precisely in the fact that it is an artF by informing us of the nature of our own minds it informs us of much that depends on our minds. Aspects of 9cience, #$%>. -un 52e (!th - %th centu&,) .he control of large numbers is possible, and like unto that of small numbers, if we subdivide them. 9un %*e .ing Aa$ -:i't, "onathan If they would, for +(ample, praise the 'eauty of a <oman, or any other 8nimal, they describe it by 2hombs, ;ircles, 3arallelograms, +llipses, and other geometrical terms ... :8 Moyage to 7aputa: in Gulli!er's %ra!els. "onathan -:i't <hat ve(es me most is, that my female friends, who could bear me very well a do-en years ago, have now forsaken me, although I am not so old in proportion to them as I formerly was which I can prove by arithmetic, for then I was double their age, which now I am not. Letter to Alexan"er .ope$ ) Feb. #)?B. -,l3este&, ".". (181( - 189#) ...there is no study in the world which brings into more harmonious action all the faculties of the mind than DmathematicsE, ... or, like this, seems to raise them, by successive steps of initiation, to higher and higher states of conscious intellectual being.... .resi"ential A""ress to :ritish Association, #&B$. -,l3este&, ".". (181( - 189#) So long as a man remains a gregarious and sociable being, he cannot cut himself off from the gratification of the instinct of imparting what he is learning, of propagating through others the ideas and impressions seething in his own brain, without stunting and atrophying his moral nature and drying up the surest sources of his future intellectual replenishment.

-,l3este&, ".". (181( - 189#) Don graph theory...E .he theory of ramification is one of pure colligation, for it takes no account of magnitude or positionF geometrical lines are used, but these have no more real bearing on the matter than those employed in genealogical tables have in e(plaining the laws of procreation. In ". +ves )athematical Circles A"ieu, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)). -,l3este&, ".". (181( - 189#) .ime was when all the parts of the sub0ect were dissevered, when algebra, geometry, and arithmetic either lived apart or kept up cold relations of ac/uaintance confined to occasional calls upon one anotherF but that is now at an endF they are drawn together and are constantly becoming more and more intimately related and connected by a thousand fresh ties, and we may confidently look forward to a time when they shall form but one body with one soul. .resi"ential A""ress to :ritish Association, #&B$. -,l3este&, ".". (181( - 189#) .he world of ideas which it DmathematicsE discloses or illuminates, the contemplation of divine beauty and order which it induces, the harmonious conne(ion of its parts, the infinite hierarchy and absolute evidence of the truths with which it is concerned, these, and such like, are the surest grounds of the title of mathematics to human regard, and would remain unimpeached and unimpaired were the plan of the universe unrolled like a map at our feet, and the mind of man /ualified to take in the whole scheme of creation at a glance. .resi"ential A""ress to :ritish Association, #&B$. -,l3este&, ".". (181( - 189#) I know, indeed, and can conceive of no pursuit so antagonistic to the cultivation of the oratorical faculty ... as the study of !athematics. 8n elo/uent mathematician must, from the nature of things, ever remain as rare a phenomenon as a talking fish, and it is certain that the more anyone gives himself up to the study of oratorical effect the less will he find himself in a fit state to mathematici-e. 5hales (*A %00 /*) I will be sufficiently rewarded if when telling it to others you will not claim the discovery as your own, but will say it was mine. In ". +ves ,n )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$B$. 5hom.son, DAA&c, +ent:o&th (18%0-19(8) ;ell and tissue, shell and bone, leaf and flower, are so many portions of matter, and it is in obedience to the laws of physics that their particles have been moved, moulded and conformed. .hey are no e(ceptions to the rule that God always geometri-es. .heir problems of form are in the first instance mathematical problems, their problems of growth are essentially physical problems, and the morphologist is, ipso facto, a student of physical science. /n Growth an" Aorm, #$#). 5homson, ?<o&d >el3in@ +illiam (182(-190#) Fourier is a mathematical poem. 5ho&eau "e is not a true man of science who does not bring some sympathy to his studies, and e(pect to learn something by behavior as well as by application. It is childish to rest in the discovery of mere coincidences, or of partial and e(traneous laws. .he study of geometry is a petty and idle e(ercise of the mind, if it is applied to no larger system than the starry one. !athematics should be mi(ed not only with physics but with ethicsF that is mi(ed mathematics. .he fact which interests us most is the life of the naturalist. .he purest science is still biographical.

5iet2e .he story was told that the young Cirichlet had as a constant companion all his travels, like a devout man with his prayer book, an old, worn copy of the ;isquisitiones Arithmeticae of Gauss. In G. Simmons Calculus Gems, New York !cGraw "ill Inc., #$$%. 5illotson, A&chbisho. "ow often might a man, after he had 0umbled a set of letters in a bag, fling them out upon the ground before they would fall into an e(act poem, yea, or so much as make a good discourse in prose. 8nd may not a little book be as easily made by chance as this great volume of the world. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. 5itchma&sh, 4. *. 3erhaps the most surprising thing about mathematics is that it is so surprising. .he rules which we make up at the beginning seem ordinary and inevitable, but it is impossible to foresee their conse/uences. .hese have only been found out by long study, e(tending over many centuries. !uch of our knowledge is due to a comparatively few great mathematicians such as Newton, +uler, Gauss, or 2iemannF few careers can have been more satisfying than theirs. .hey have contributed something to human thought even more lasting than great literature, since it is independent of language. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 5itchma&sh, 4. *. It can be of no practical use to know that 3i is irrational, but if we can know, it surely would be intolerable not to know. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. 5odhunte&, Gsaac (1820 - 1910) D8sked whether he would like to see an e(perimental demonstration of conical refractionE No. I have been teaching it all my life, and I do not want to have my ideas upset. 5olsto,, ?*ount@ <e3 Ni)ol e3ich (1828-1920) 8 modern branch of mathematics, having achieved the art of dealing with the infinitely small, can now yield solutions in other more comple( problems of motion, which used to appear insoluble. .his modern branch of mathematics, unknown to the ancients, when dealing with problems of motion, admits the conception of the infinitely small, and so conforms to the chief condition of motion 4absolute continuity5 and thereby corrects the inevitable error which the human mind cannot avoid when dealing with separate elements of motion instead of e(amining continuous motion. In seeking the laws of historical movement 0ust the same thing happens. .he movement of humanity, arising as it does from innumerable human wills, is continuous. .o understand the laws of this continuous movement is the aim of history. Anly by taking an infinitesimally small unit for observation 4the differential of history, that is, the individual tendencies of man5 and attaining to the art of integrating them 4that is, finding the sum of these infinitesimals5 can we hope to arrive at the laws of history. -ar an" .eace$ 5olsto,, *ount <e3 Ni)ol e3ich (1828-1920) 8 man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself. .he larger the denominator the smaller the fraction. In ". +ves +eturn to )athematical Circles, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$&$. 5&uesdell, *li''o&d .his paper gives wrong solutions to trivial problems. .he basic error,however, is not

new. )athematical +e!iews #%, p>B#. 5u& ene3, G3an -e& eie3ich (1818 - 188$) <hatever a man prays for, he prays for a miracle. +very prayer reduces itself to this SGreat God, grant that twice two be not four,. 5u&nbull, H.+. 8ttaching significance to invariants is an effort to recogni-e what, because of its form or colour or meaning or otherwise, is important or significant in what is only trivial or ephemeral. 8 simple instance of failing in this is provided by the poll=man at ;ambridge, who learned perfectly how to factori-e aQ% = bQ% but was floored because the e(aminer unkindly asked for the factors of pQ% = /Q%. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Ilam, -tanisla: In many cases, mathematics is an escape from reality. .he mathematician finds his own monastic niche and happiness in pursuits that are disconnected from e(ternal affairs. Some practice it as if using a drug. ;hess sometimes plays a similar role. In their unhappiness over the events of this world, some immerse themselves in a kind of self=sufficiency in mathematics. 4Some have engaged in it for this reason alone.5 A"!entures of a )athematician, Scribner,s, New York, #$)B. Eal=&,, 9aul (18#1 - 19(!) In the physical world, one cannot increase the si-e or /uantity of anything without changing its /uality. Similar figures e(ist only in pure geometry. 3an Elec), 4. /. .his new integral of 7ebes/ue is proving itself a wonderful tool. I might compare it with a modern Nrupp gun, so easily does it penetrate barriers which were impregnable. :ulletin of the American )athematical 9ociety, vol. %?, #$#B. Eeblen, 5ho&stein (18!#-1929) .he outcome of any serious research can only be to make two /uestions grow where only one grew before. %he .lace of 9cience in )o"ern Ci!ili*ation an" /ther #ssays$ Eeblen, 5ho&stein (18!#-1929) Invention is the mother of necessity. *. Gross, %he /xfor" :oo( of Aphorisms, A(ford A(ford 6niversity 3ress, #$&?. Eoltai&e (1%9(-1##8) Mous ave- trouve par de long ennuis ;e /ue Newton trouva sans sortir de che- lui. D<ritten to 7a ;ondamine after his measurement of the e/uator.E In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Eoltai&e (1%9(-1##8) "e who has heard the same thing told by #%,999 eye=witnesses has only #%,999 probabilities, which are e/ual to one strong probability, which is far from certain. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. Eoltai&e (1%9(-1##8) .here are no sects in geometry. <. ". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger 4eds.5 %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$B%.

+alton, G2aa) 8ngling may be said to be so like mathematics that it can never be fully learned. %he Compleat Angler, #B>?. +a&ne&, -,l3ia 5o:nsend For twenty pages perhaps, he read slowly, carefully, dutifully, with pauses for self= e(amination and working out e(amples. .hen, 0ust as it was working up and the pauses should have been more scrupulous than ever, a kind of swoon and ecstasy would fall on him, and he read ravening on, sitting up till dawn to finish the book, as though it were a novel. 8fter that his passion was stayedF the book went back to the 7ibrary and he was done with mathematics till the ne(t bout. Not much remained with him after these orgies, but something remained a sensation in the mind, a worshiping acknowledgment of something isolated and unassailable, or a remembered mental 0oy at the rightness of thoughts coming together to a conclusion, accurate thoughts, thoughts in 0ust intonation, coming together like unaccompanied voices coming to a close. )r$ Aortune's )aggot. +a&ne&, -,l3ia 5o:nsend .heology, !r. Fortune found, is a more accommodating sub0ect than mathematicsF its techni/ue of e(position allows greater latitude. For instance when you are gravelled for matter there is always the moral to fall back upon. ;omparisons too may be drawn, leading cases cited, types and antetypes analysed and anecdotes introduced. +(cept for 8rchimedes mathematics is singularly naked of anecdotes. )r$ Aortune's )aggot$ +a&ne&, -,l3ia 5o:nsend "e resumed :In order to ascertain the height of the tree I must be in such a position that the top of the tree is e(actly in a line with the top of a measuring stick or any straight ob0ect would do, such as an umbrella which I shall secure in an upright position between my feet. Nnowing then that the ratio that the height of the tree bears to the length of the measuring stick must e/ual the ratio that the distance from my eye to the base of the tree bears to my height, and knowing 4or being able to find out5 my height, the length of the measuring stick and the distance from my eye to the base of the tree, I can, therefore, calculate the height of the tree.: :<hat is an umbrellaG: )r$ Aortune's )aggot$ +a&&en, 0obe&t 9enn (190!-) <hat if angry vectors veer 2ound your sleeping head, and form. .here,s never need to fear Miolence of the poor world,s abstract storm. Lullaby in #ncounter, #$>). +eil, And&e (190% -1998) +very mathematician worthy of the name has e(perienced ... the state of lucid e(altation in which one thought succeeds another as if miraculously... this feeling may last for hours at a time, even for days. Ance you have e(perienced it, you are eager to repeat it but unable to do it at will, unless perhaps by dogged work... %he Apprenticeship of a )athematician$ +eil, And&e (190%- 1998) God e(ists since mathematics is consistent, and the Cevil e(ists since we cannot prove it. In ". +ves )athematical Circles A"ieu, 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)).

+eil, -imone (1909 - 19($) 8lgebra and money are essentially levelersF the first intellectually, the second effectively. <.". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. +est, Nathanael 3rayers for the condemned man will be offered on an adding machine. Numbers constitute the only universal language. )iss Lonelyhearts$ +e,l, He&mann (188! - 19!!) Aur federal income ta( law defines the ta( y to be paid in terms of the income (F it does so in a clumsy enough way by pasting several linear functions together, each valid in another interval or bracket of income. 8n archeologist who, five thousand years from now, shall unearth some of our income ta( returns together with relics of engineering works and mathematical books, will probably date them a couple of centuries earlier, certainly before Galileo and Mieta. %he )athematical -ay of %hin(ing, an address given at the 'icentennial ;onference at the 6niversity of 3ennsylvania, #$@9. +e,l, He&mann (188! - 19!!) <e are not very pleased when we are forced to accept a mathematical truth by virtue of a complicated chain of formal conclusions and computations, which we traverse blindly, link by link, feeling our way by touch. <e want first an overview of the aim and of the roadF we want to understand the i"ea of the proof, the deeper conte(t. nterrichtsblNtter fFr )athemati( un" &aturwissenschaften, ?&, #))=#&& 4#$?%5. .ranslation by 8be Shenit-er appeared in %he American )athematical )onthly, v. #9%, no. ) 48ugust=September #$$>5, p. B@B. +e,l, He&mann (188! - 19!!) 8 modern mathematical proof is not very different from a modern machine, or a modern test setup the simple fundamental principles are hidden and almost invisible under a mass of technical details. Unterrichtsbltter fr Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften, #!, 1$$%1!! (1 #2". Translation by &be 'henit(er a))eared in The American Mathematical Monthly, v. 1*2, no. $ (&ugust%'e)tember 1 +", ). ,-,. +e,l, He&mann (188!-19!!) .he constructs of the mathematical mind are at the same time free and necessary. .he individual mathematician feels free to define his notions and set up his a(ioms as he pleases. 'ut the /uestion is will he get his fellow mathematician interested in the constructs of his imagination. <e cannot help the feeling that certain mathematical structures which have evolved through the combined efforts of the mathematical community bear the stamp of a necessity not affected by the accidents of their historical birth. +verybody who looks at the spectacle of modern algebra will be struck by this complementarity of freedom and necessity. #$>#. +e,l, He&mann (188! - 19!!) !y work has always tried to unite the true with the beautiful and when I had to choose one or the other, I usually chose the beautiful. In an obituary by Freeman *. Cyson in &ature, !arch #9, #$>B. +e,l, He&mann (188! - 19!!) ... numbers have neither substance, nor meaning, nor /ualities. .hey are nothing but marks, and all that is in them we have put into them by the simple rule of straight succession.

:!athematics and the 7aws of Nature: in %he Armchair 9cience +ea"er, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>$. +e,l, He&mann (188! - 19!!) <ithout the concepts, methods and results found and developed by previous generations right down to Greek anti/uity one cannot understand either the aims or achievements of mathematics in the last >9 years. DSaid in #$>9E %he American )athematical )onthly, v. #99. p. $?. +e,l, He&mann (188! - 19!!) 7ogic is the hygiene the mathematician practices to keep his ideas healthy and strong. %he American )athematical )onthly, November, #$$%. +he:ell Nobody since Newton has been able to use geometrical methods to the same e(tent for the like purposesF and as we read the 3rincipia we feel as when we are in an ancient armoury where the weapons are of gigantic si-eF and as we look at them we marvel what manner of man he was who could use as a weapon what we can scarcely lift as a burden. In +. N. Ca ;. 8ndrade :Isaac Newton: in *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) .he science of pure mathematics ... may claim to be the most original creation of the human spirit. 9cience an" the )o"ern -orl"$ +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) !athematics as a science, commenced when first someone, probably a Greek, proved propositions about :any: things or about :some: things, without specifications of definite particular things. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) So far as the mere imparting of information is concerned, no university has had any 0ustification for e(istence since the populari-ation of printing in the fifteenth century. %he Aims of #"ucation. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) No 2oman ever died in contemplation over a geometrical diagram. D8 reference to the death of 8rchimedes.E In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) 7ife is an offensive, directed against the repetitious mechanism of the 6niverse. A"!entures of ,"eas, #$??. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) .here is no nature at an instant. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) 7et us grant that the pursuit of mathematics is a divine madness of the human spirit, a refuge from the goading urgency of contingent happenings. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) .here is a tradition of opposition between adherents of induction and of deduction. In my view it would be 0ust as sensible for the two ends of a worm to /uarrel. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) It is a profoundly erroneous truism, repeated by all copy books and by eminent people when they are making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking of

what we are doing. .he precise opposite is the case. ;ivili-ation advances by e(tending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. An ,ntro"uction to )athematics$ +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) Aur minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of finitude we are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of life is to grasp as much as we can out of that infinitude. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) In modern times the belief that the ultimate e(planation of all things was to be found in Newtonian mechanics was an adumbration of the truth that all science, as it grows towards perfection, becomes mathematical in its ideas. In N. 2ose )athematical )axims an" )inims, 2aleigh N; 2ome 3ress Inc., #$&&. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) 8lgebra reverses the relative importance of the factors in ordinary language. It is essentially a written language, and it endeavors to e(emplify in its written structures the patterns which it is its purpose to convey. .he pattern of the marks on paper is a particular instance of the pattern to be conveyed to thought. .he algebraic method is our best approach to the e(pression of necessity, by reason of its reduction of accident to the ghostlike character of the real variable. <.". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) 'e relieving the brain of all unnecessary work, a good notation sets it free to concentrate on more advanced problems, and, in effect, increases the mental power of the race. In 3. Cavis and 2. "ersh %he )athematical #xperience, 'oston 'irkhPuser, #$&#. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) +verything of importance has been said before by somebody who did not discover it. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) Seek simplicity, and distrust it. <.". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) Fundamental progress has to do with the reinterpretation of basic ideas. <.". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) <e think in generalities, but we live in details. <.". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) 8part from blunt truth, our lives sink decadently amid the perfume of hints and suggestions. <.". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) :Necessity is the mother of invention: is a silly proverb. :Necessity is the mother of futile dodges: is much nearer the truth.

<.". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) It is more important that a proposition be interesting than that it be true. .his statement is almost a tautology. For the energy of operation of a proposition in an occasion of e(perience is its interest and is its importance. 'ut of course a true proposition is more apt to be interesting than a false one. <.". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) <ar can protectF it cannot create. <.". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) .he progress of Science consists in observing interconnections and in showing with a patient ingenuity that the events of this ever=shifting world are but e(amples of a few general relations, called laws. .o see what is general in what is particular, and what is permanent in what is transitory, is the aim of scientific thought. An ,ntro"uction to )athematics$ +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) .hrough and through the world is infested with /uantity .o talk sense is to talk /uantities. It is not use saying the nation is large .. "ow largeG It is no use saying the radium is scarce ... "ow scarceG You cannot evade /uantity. You may fly to poetry and music, and /uantity and number will face you in your rhythms and your octaves. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) :Ane and one make two: assumes that the changes in the shift of circumstance are unimportant. 'ut it is impossible for us to analy-e this notion of unimportant change. <.". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) I will not go so far as to say that to construct a history of thought without profound study of the mathematical ideas of successive epochs is like omitting "amlet from the play which is named after him. .hat would be claiming too much. 'ut it is certainly analogous to cutting out the part of Aphelia. .his simile is singularly e(act. For Aphelia is /uite essential to the play, she is very charming ... and a little mad. <.". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) .he study of mathematics is apt to commence in disappointment....<e are told that by its aid the stars are weighed and the billions of molecules in a drop of water are counted. Yet, like the ghost of "amlet,s father, this greatest science eludes the efforts of our mental weapons to grasp it. An ,ntro"uction to )athematics +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) In the study of ideas, it is necessary to remember that insistence on hard=headed clarity issues from sentimental feeling, as it were a mist, cloaking the perple(ities of fact. Insistence on clarity at all costs is based on sheer superstition as to the mode in which human intelligence functions. Aur reasonings grasp at straws for premises and float on gossamers for deductions.

In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. +hitehead, Al'&ed No&th (18%1 - 19(#) Familiar things happen, and mankind does not bother about them. It re/uires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the obvious. 9cience an" the )o"ern -orl"$ +hitman, +alt (1819-1892) Co I contradict myselfG Mery well then I contradict myself. 4I am large, I contains multitudes5. 9ong of )yself, #$?$. +hitman, +alt (1819-1892) <hen I heard the learn,d astronomer, <hen the proofs, the figure, were ranged in columns before me, <hen I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them, <hen I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture room, "ow soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, .ill rising and gliding out I wander,d off by myself, In the mystical moist night=air, and from time to time, 7ook,d up in perfect silence at the stars. +iene&, No&be&t (189( - 19%() 8 professor is one who can speak on any sub0ect == for precisely fifty minutes. +iene&, No&be&t (189(-19%() .he modern physicist is a /uantum theorist on !onday, <ednesday, and Friday and a student of gravitational relativity theory on .uesday, .hursday, and Saturday. An Sunday he is neither, but is praying to his God that someone, preferably himself, will find the reconciliation between the two views. +iene&, No&be&t (189(-19%() 3rogress imposes not only new possibilities for the future but new restrictions. %he <uman se of <uman :eings$ +iene&, No&be&t (189(-19%() .he 8dvantage is that mathematics is a field in which one,s blunders tend to show very clearly and can be corrected or erased with a stroke of the pencil. It is a field which has often been compared with chess, but differs from the latter in that it is only one,s best moments that count and not one,s worst. 8 single inattention may lose a chess game, whereas a single successful approach to a problem, among many which have been relegated to the wastebasket, will make a mathematician,s reputation. #x1.ro"igy: )y Chil"hoo" an" 'outh$ +ilde&, 0. <. .here is nothing mysterious, as some have tried to maintain, about the applicability of mathematics. <hat we get by abstraction from something can be returned. ,ntro"uction to the Aoun"ations of )athematics. +ilde&, 0. <. !athematics was born and nurtured in a cultural environment. <ithout the perspective which the cultural background affords, a proper appreciation of the content and state of present=day mathematics is hardly possible. In %he American )athematical )onthly, !arch #$$@. +illiam o' Hccam (1$00-1($9) DAccam,s 2a-or E +ntities should not be multiplied unnecessarily. @uo"libeta$

+ilson, "ohn (1#(1 - 1#9$) 8 monument to NewtonK a monument to ShakespeareK 7ook up to "eaven look into the "uman "eart. .ill the planets and the passionsthe affections and the fi(ed stars are e(tinguishedtheir names cannot die. +itt enstein, <ud:i (1889-19!1) <e could present spatially an atomic fact which contradicted the laws of physics, but not one which contradicted the laws of geometry. %ractatus Logico .hilosophicus, New York, #$%%. +itt enstein, <ud:i (1889-19!1) !athematics is a logical method ... !athematical propositions e(press no thoughts. In life it is never a mathematical proposition which we need, but we use mathematical propositions only in order to infer from propositions which do not belong to mathematics to others which e/ually do not belong to mathematics. %ractatus Logico .hilosophicus, New York, #$%%, p. #B$. +itt enstein, <ud:i (1889-19!1) .here can never be surprises in logic. In *. 2. Newman 4ed.5 %he -orl" of )athematics, New York Simon and Schuster, #$>B. +itt enstein, <ud:i (1889-19!1) .he riddle does not e(ist. If a /uestion can be put at all, then it can also be answered. %ractatus Logico .hilosophicus, New York, #$%%. +o&ds:o&th, +illiam (1##0 - 18!0) D!athematicsE is an independent world ;reated out of pure intelligence. +&en, -i& *h&isto.ohe& In things to be seen at once, much variety makes confusion, another vice of beauty. In things that are not seen at once, and have no respect one to another, great variety is commendable, provided this variety transgress not the rules of optics and geometry. <.". 8uden and 7. Nronenberger %he Bi(ing :oo( of Aphorisms, New York Miking 3ress, #$BB. J, Malcom I,m sorry to say that the sub0ect I most disliked was mathematics. I have thought about it. I think the reason was that mathematics leaves no room for argument. If you made a mistake, that was all there was to it. )ascot$ Koun , ". +. A. !athematics has beauties of its own == a symmetry and proportion in its results, a lack of superfluity, an e(act adaptation of means to ends, which is e(ceedingly remarkable and to be found only in the works of the greatest beauty <hen this sub0ect is properly ... presented, the mental emotion should be that of en0oyment of beauty, not that of repulsion from the ugly and the unpleasant. In ". +ves )athematical Circles 9quare", 'oston 3rindle, <eber and Schmidt, #$)%. Leeman, 4 *h&isto.he& (192! - ) .echnical skill is mastery of comple(ity while creativity is mastery of simplicity. Catastrophe %heory, #$)).