As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.
Manfred Schroeder, Fractals, Chaos, Power Laws 1991
Loci: Convergence
Mathematical Quotations
Our library of quotations is organized alphabetically by surname of the author.
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Galbraith, John Kenneth
There can be no question, however, that prolonged commitment to mathematical exercises in economics can be damaging. It leads to the atrophy of judgment and intuition ...
Galilei, Galileo (1564-1642)
And 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 will? When
we are told to deny
our senses and
subject them to the
whim of others? When
people devoid of
whatsoever
competence are made
judges over experts
and are granted
authority to treat
them as they please?
These are the
novelties which are
apt to bring about
the ruin of
commonwealths and
the subversion of
the state.
[On
the margin of his
own copy of
Dialogue on the
Great World
Systems]
Galilei, Galileo (1564-1642)
Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so.
Galilei, Galileo (1564-1642)
[The universe] 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.
Galois, Evariste
Unfortunately what is little recognized is that the most worthwhile scientific books are those in which the author clearly indicates what he does not know; for an author most hurts his readers by concealing difficulties.
Galton, Sir Francis (1822-1911)
I know of scarcely anything so apt to impress the imagination as the wonderful form of cosmic order expressed by the "Law of Frequency of Error." The 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. The huger the mob, and the greater the apparent anarchy, the more perfect is its sway. It is the supreme law of Unreason. Whenever 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.
Galton, Sir Francis (1822-1911)
[Statistics are] 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 Man.
Galton, Sir Francis (1822-1911)
Whenever you can, count.
Gardner, Martin
Mathematics is not only real, but it is the only reality. [The] entire universe is made of matter, obviously. And 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 of? They're not made out of anything. The 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 just a mathematical structure.
Gardner, Martin
Biographical history, as taught in our public schools, is still largely a history of boneheads: ridiculous kings and queens, paranoid political leaders, compulsive voyagers, ignorant generals -- the flotsam and jetsam of historical currents. The men who radically altered history, the great scientists and mathematicians, are seldom mentioned, if at all.
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