An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his subject, and how to avoid them.
Physics and Beyond. 1971.
Loci: Convergence
Mathematical Quotations
Our library of quotations is organized alphabetically by surname of the author.
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Newman, James R.
The most painful thing about mathematics is how far away you are from being able to use it after you have learned it.
Newton, Isaac (1642-1727)
[His epitaph:]
Who, 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.
Newton, Isaac (1642-1727)
The latest authors, like the most ancient, strove to subordinate the phenomena of nature to the laws of mathematics.
Newton, Isaac (1642-1727)
The description of right lines and circles, upon which geometry is founded, belongs to mechanics. Geometry does not teach us to draw these lines, but requires them to be drawn.
Newton, Isaac (1642-1727)
Hypotheses non fingo.
I feign no hypotheses.
Newton, Isaac (1642-1727)
To explain all nature is too difficult a task for any one man or even for any one age. 'Tis much better to do a little with certainty, and leave the rest for others that come after you, than to explain all things.
Newton, Isaac (1642-1727)
[F]rom the same principles, I now demonstrate the frame of the System of the World.
Nightingale, Florence (1820-1910)
[Of her:]
Her
statistics were more
than a study, they
were indeed her
religion. For her
Quetelet was the
hero as scientist,
and the presentation
copy of his Physique
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. The
legislator -- to say
nothing of the
politician -- too
often failed for
want of this
knowledge. Nay, she
went further; she
held that the
universe --
including human
communities -- was
evolving in
accordance with a
divine plan; that it
was man's business
to endeavor to
understand this plan
and guide his
actions in sympathy
with it. But to
understand God's
thoughts, she held
we must study
statistics, for
these are the
measure of His
purpose. Thus the
study of statistics
was for her a
religious duty.
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