How did he do it? He must be a genius! Gian-Carlo Rota More Quotes by Gian-Carlo Rota More Quotes From Gian-Carlo Rota Stan Ulam was lazy, ... He talked too much ... He was self-centered ... . He had an overpowering personality. Gian-Carlo Rota personalityselfscience The advice we give others is the advice that we ourselves need. Gian-Carlo Rota advicegivingneeds Mathematics is the study of analogies between analogies. All science is. Scientists want to show that things that don't look alike are really the same. That is one of their innermost Freudian motivations. In fact, that is what we mean by understanding. Gian-Carlo Rota motivationsciencemean Making mathematics accessible to the educated layman, while keeping high scientific standards, has always been considered a treacherous navigation between the Scylla of professional contempt and the Charybdis of public misunderstanding. Gian-Carlo Rota scyllanavigationmathematics Nature imitates mathematics. Gian-Carlo Rota mathematics Running overtime is the one unforgivable error a lecturer can make. After fifty minutes (one microcentury as von Neumann used to say) everybody's attention will turn elsewhere. Gian-Carlo Rota errorsrunningscience The apex of mathematical achievement occurs when two or more fields which were thought to be entirely unrelated turn out to be closely intertwined. Mathematicians have never decided whether they should feel excited or upset by such events. Gian-Carlo Rota achievementtwoscience A technique is a trick that works. Gian-Carlo Rota trickstechnique Mathematicians - for what they do - are really poorly rewarded. And it's a very competitive field, almost as bad as being a concert pianist. Gian-Carlo Rota mathematicianconcertsfields Mathematicians also make terrible salesmen. Physicists can discover the same thing as a mathematician and say 'We've discovered a great new law of nature. Give us a billion dollars.' And if it doesn't change the world, then they say, 'There's an even deeper thing. Give us another billion dollars.' Gian-Carlo Rota dollarslawgiving Our faith in Mathematics is not likely to wane if we openly acknowledge that the personalities of even the greatest mathematicians may be as flawed as those of anyone else. Gian-Carlo Rota mathematicspersonalitymay
