Quotes by Math When introduced at the wrong time or place, good logic may be the worst enemy of good teaching. George Polya teachingmathscience If you have to prove a theorem, do not rush. First of all, understand fully what the theorem says, try to see clearly what it means. Then check the theorem; it could be false. Examine the consequences, verify as many particular instances as are needed to convince yourself of the truth. When you have satisfied yourself that the theorem is true, you can start proving it. George Polya truthmathmean I am intentionally avoiding the standard term which, by the way, did not exist in Euler's time. One of the ugliest outgrowths of the "new math" was the premature introduction of technical terms. George Polya mathdiscoveryway To arrive at the simplest truth, as Newton knew and practiced, requires 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. George Spencer-Brown readingmaththinking It is a pleasant surprise to him (the pure mathematician) 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. George Santayana mathsongart To throw in a fair game at Hazards only three-spots, when something great is at stake, or some business is the hazard, is a natural occurrence and deserves to be so deemed; 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. Gerolamo Cardano businessmathmen Combinatorics is an honest subject. No adèles, no sigma-algebras. You count balls in a box, and you either have the right number or you haven't. You get the feeling that the result you have discovered is forever, because it's concrete. Other branches of mathematics are not so clear-cut. Functional analysis of infinite-dimensional spaces is never fully convincing; you don't get a feeling of having done an honest day's work. Don't get the wrong idea - combinatorics is not just putting balls into boxes. Counting finite sets can be a highbrow undertaking, with sophisticated techniques. Gian-Carlo Rota cuttingmathideas We often hear that mathematics consists mainly of "proving theorems." Is a writer's job mainly that of "writing sentences?" Gian-Carlo Rota mathwritingjobs In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism and literary criticism, it is normal to come across long passages which are almost completely lacking in meaning. George Orwell mathwritingart It isn't that they can't see the solution. It is that they can't see the problem. Gilbert K. Chesterton statisticsmathfunny The investigation of mathematical truths accustoms the mind to method and correctness in reasoning, and is an employment peculiarly worthy of rational beings. George Washington mindeducationmath Look, this is a man, he's got great numbers. He talks about numbers. I'm beginning to think not only did he invent the Internet, but he invented the calculator. It's fuzzy math. It's a scaring - trying to scare people in the voting booth. Under my tax plan, that he continues to criticize, I set a third - the federal government should take no more than a third of anybody's check. George W. Bush mathmenthinking I use minimal software to make my music - a wav editor and a calculator for my beats to make sure everything falls on mathematical precision. If you were just mapping this out visually, it works by math. I guess it's slightly engineering influenced. Girl Talk engineeringmathfall I did maths for a year at university. I don't think I was very good at it. And some people would say it shows. Gordon Brown mathyearsthinking The mathematician's best work is art, a high perfect art, as daring as the most secret dreams of imagination, clear and limpid. Mathematical genius and artistic genius touch one another. Gosta Mittag-Leffler dreammathart Nothing is more important than to see the sources of invention which are, in my opinion more interesting than the inventions themselves. Gottfried Leibniz importantmathinteresting A scientist can hardly meet with anything more undesirable than to have the foundations give way just as the work is finished. I was put in this position by a letter from Mr. Bertrand Russell when the work was nearly through the press. Gottlob Frege foundationmathgiving In symbols one observes an advantage in discovery which is greatest when they express the exact nature of a thing briefly and, as it were, picture it; then indeed the labor of thought is wonderfully diminished. Gottfried Leibniz naturemathscience Music is the pleasure the human mind experiences from counting without being aware that it is counting. Gottfried Leibniz musicmathscience He who understands Archimedes and Apollonius will admire less the achievements of the foremost men of later times. Gottfried Leibniz mathtimemen«2526272829303132333435»
