On Simplicity III (Complexity vs Simplicity I)

“[…] the simplicity of nature which we at present grasp is really the result of infinite complexity; and that below the uniformity there underlies a diversity whose depths we have not yet probed, and whose secret places are still beyond our reach.” (William Spottiswoode, 1879)

“The aim of science is always to reduce complexity to simplicity.” (William James, “The Principles of Psychology”, 1890)

”The central task of a natural science is to make the wonderful commonplace: to show that complexity, correctly viewed, is only a mask for simplicity; to find pattern hidden in apparent chaos.” (Herbert A Simon, “The Sciences of the Artificial”, 1969)

“The aim of science is to seek the simplest explanations of complex facts. We are apt to fall into the error of thinking that the facts are simple because simplicity is the goal of our quest. The guiding motto in the life of every natural philosopher should be, ‘Seek simplicity and distrust it.’” (Alfred N Whitehead, “The Concept of Nature”, 1919)

“The beauty of physics lies in the extent which seemingly complex and unrelated phenomena can be explained and correlated through a high level of abstraction by a set of laws which are amazing in their simplicity.” (Melvin Schwartz, “In Principles of Electrodynamics”, 1972)

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.” (Ernst F Schumacher, “Small is Beautiful”, 1973)

"Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it." (Alan Perlis, “Epigrams on Programming”, 1982)

“[…] it is important to emphasize the value of simplicity and elegance, for complexity has a way of compounding difficulties.” (Fernando J Corbato, “On Building Systems That Will Fail”, 1991)

"Nature is capable of building complex structures by processes of self-organization; simplicity begets complexity." (Victor J Stenger, "God: The Failed Hypothesis", 2010)

“Complexity is the prodigy of the world. Simplicity is the sensation of the universe. Behind complexity, there is always simplicity to be revealed. Inside simplicity, there is always complexity to be discovered.” (Gang Yu, “in Data Warehousing in the Age of Big Data”, 2013)