Number Theory I

"[…] in the science of numbers ought to be preferred as an acquisition before all others, because of its necessity and because of the great secrets and other mysteries which there are in the properties of numbers. All sciences partake of it, and it has need of none." (Boethius, cca. 6th century)

"In the Theory of Numbers it happens rather frequently that, by some unexpected luck, the most elegant new truths spring up by induction." (Carl Friedrich Gauss, Werke, 1876)

"The properties of the numbers known today have been mostly discovered by observation, and discovered long before their truth has been confirmed by rigid demonstrations. There are even many properties of the numbers with which we are well acquainted, but which we are not yet able to prove; only observations have led us to their knowledge. Hence we see that in the theory of numbers, which is still very imperfect, we can place our highest hopes in observations." (Leonhard Euler, "Specimen de usu observationum in mathesi pura, ["Example of the use of observation in pure mathematics"], cca. 1753)

"Arithmetic does not present to us that feeling of continuity which is such a precious guide; each whole number is separate from the next of its kind and has in a sense individuality; each in a manner is an exception and that is why general theorems are rare in the theory of numbers; and that is why those theorems which may exist are more hidden and longer escape those who are searching for them." (Henri Poincaré, "Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution", 1909)

“The theory of numbers is the last great uncivilized continent of mathematics. It is split up into innumerable countries, fertile enough in themselves, but all the more or less indifferent to one another’s welfare and without a vestige of a central, intelligent government. If any young Alexander is weeping for a new world to conquer, it lies before him.” (Eric T Bell, “The Queen of the Sciences”, 1931)

"[Number theory] produces, without effort, innumerable problems which have a sweet, innocent air about them, tempting flowers; and yet…number theory swarms with bugs, waiting to bite the tempted flower-lovers who, once bitten, are inspired to excesses of effort!" (Barry Mazur, "Number Theory as Gadfly", The American Mathematical Monthly, Volume 98, 1991)

"[…] number theory […] is a field of almost pristine irrelevance to everything except the wondrous demonstration that pure numbers, no more substantial than Plato’s shadows, conceal magical laws and orders that the human mind can discover after all." (Sharon Begley, "New Answer for an Old Question", Newsweek, 5 July, 1993)

"Number theory is so difficult, albeit so fascinating, because mathematicians try to examine additive creations under a multiplicative light." (William Dunham, 1994)

"The theory of numbers, more than any other branch of mathematics, began by being an experimental science. Its most famous theorems have all been conjectured, sometimes a hundred years or more before they were proved; and they have been suggested by the evidence of a mass of computations." (Godfrey H Hardy)

Mathematics, Numbers and More…

“It is not of the essence of mathematics to be conversant with the ideas of number and quantity. Whether as a general habit of mind it would be desirable to apply symbolic processes to moral argument, is another question.” (George Boole, “An Investigation of the Laws of Thought”, 1854)

“The purely formal sciences, logic and mathematics, deal with such relations which are independent of the definite content, or the substance of the objects, or at least can be. In particular, mathematics involves those relations of objects to each other that involve the concept of size, measure, number.” (Hermann Hankel, “Theorie der Complexen Zahlensysteme”, 1867)

“Mathematics is the science of the functional laws and transformations which enable us to convert figured extension and rated motion into number.” (George Holmes Howison, “The Departments of Mathematics, and their Mutual Relations”, Journal of Speculative Philosophy Vol. 5, No. 2, 1871)

“It may be surprising to see emotional sensibility invoked apropos of mathematical demonstrations which, it would seem, can interest only the intellect. This would be to forget the feeling of mathematical beauty, of the harmony of numbers and forms, of geometric elegance. This is a true esthetic feeling that all real mathematicians know, and surely it belongs to emotional sensibility.” (Henri Poincaré, 1913)

“Mathematics is the science of number and space. It starts from a group of self-evident truths and by infallible deduction arrives at incontestable conclusions […] the facts of mathematics are absolute, unalterable, and eternal truths.” (E Russell Stabler, “An Interpretation and Comparison of Three Schools of Thought in the Foundations of Mathematics”, The Mathematics Teacher, Vol 26, 1935)

“The harmony of the world is made manifest in Form and Number, and the heart and soul and all the poetry of Natural Philosophy are embodied in the concept of mathematical beauty.” (Sir D’Arcy W Thompson, “On Growth and Form”, 1951)

“Mathematics, springing from the soil of basic human experience with numbers and data and space and motion, builds up a far-flung architectural structure composed of theorems which reveal insights into the reasons behind appearances and of concepts which relate totally disparate concrete ideas.” (Saunders MacLane, “Of Course and Courses”The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol 61, No 3, 1954)

“Just as mathematics aims to study such entities as numbers, functions, spaces, etc., the subject matter of metamathematics is mathematics itself.” (Frank C DeSua, “Mathematics: A Non-Technical Exposition”, American Scientist, 3 Jul 1954)

Bridging the Gap: Science vs Divinity

“That deep emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God.” (Albert Einstein)

“Nothing in the universe is contingent, but all things are conditioned to exist and operate in a particular manner by the necessity of the divine nature.” (Baruch Spinoza)

“What you can show using physics, forces this universe to continue to exist. As long as you're using general relativity and quantum mechanics you are forced to conclude that God exists.” (Frank Tipler)

"The equations of physics have in them incredible simplicity, elegance and beauty. That in itself is sufficient to prove to me that there must be a God who is responsible for these laws and responsible for the universe" (Paul Davies, 1984)

“In our study of natural objects we are approaching the thoughts of the Creator, reading his conceptions, interpreting a system that is His and not ours.”​ (Louis Agassiz)

“What one man calls God, another calls the laws of physics.” (Nikola Tesla)

“Nature does not consist entirely, or even largely, of problems designed by a Grand Examiner to come out neatly in finite terms, and whatever subject we tackle the first need is to overcome timidity about approximating.” (Sir Harold Jeffreys & Bertha S Jeffreys, “Methods of Mathematical Physics”, 1946)

"The idea of a universal mind or Logos would be, I think, a fairly plausible inference from the present state of scientific theory." (Arthur Eddington)

"Such properties seem to run through the fabric of the natural world like a thread of happy coincidences. But there are so many odd coincidences essential to life that some explanation seems required to account for them." (Sir Fred Hoyle)

"I find it as difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances of science." (Wernher von Braun)

On Extrema II (Extrema in Context)

“As in mathematics, when there is no maximum nor minimum, in short nothing distinguished, everything is done equally, or when that is not nothing at all is done: so it may be said likewise in respect of perfect wisdom, which is no less orderly than mathematics, that if there were not the best (optimum) among all possible worlds, God would not have produced any.” (Gottfried W Leibniz, “Theodicy: Essays on the Goodness of God and Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil”, 1710)

“For since the fabric of the universe is most perfect and the work of a most wise Creator, nothing at all takes place in the universe in which some rule of maximum or minimum does not appear.” (Leonhard Euler, “De Curvis Elasticis”, 1744)

“Like a great poet, Nature produces the greatest results with the simplest means.” (Heinrich Heine)

“The triumph of a theory is to embrace the greatest number and the greatest variety of facts.” (Charles A Wurtz, “A History of Chemical Theory from the Age of Lavoisier to the Present Time”, 1869) 

“It is the constant aim of the mathematician to reduce all his expressions to their lowest terms, to retrench every superfluous word and phrase, and to condense the Maximum of meaning into the Minimum of language.” (James J Sylvester, 1877)

“In pure mathematics the maximum of detachment appears to be reached: the mind moves in an infinitely complicated pattern, which is absolutely free from temporal considerations. Yet this very freedom – the essential condition of the mathematician’s activity – perhaps gives him an unfair advantage. He can only be wrong – he cannot cheat.” (Kytton Strachey, “Portraits in Miniature”, 1931)

“[…] science, properly interpreted, is not dependent on any sort of metaphysics. It merely attempts to cover a maximum of facts by a minimum of laws.” (Herbert Feigl, “Naturalism and Humanism”, American Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1949)

“The concept of the ‘singleness of the superlative’ is simple: no problem in dynamics can be properly formulated in terms of more than one superlative, whether the superlative in question is stated as a minimum or as a maximum (e.g., a minimum expenditure of work can also be stated as a maximum economy of work). If the problem has more than one superlative, the problem itself becomes completely meaningless and indeterminate.” (George Kingsley Zipf, “Human Behavior and the Principle of Least Effort: An Introduction of Human Ecology”, 1949)

“To a considerable degree science consists in originating the maximum amount of information with the minimum expenditure of energy. Beauty is the cleanness of line in such formulations along with symmetry, surprise, and congruence with other prevailing beliefs.” (Edward O Wilson, “Biophilia”, 1984)

“The main goal of physics is to describe a maximum of phenomena with a minimum of variables.” (CERN Courier)

On Numbers: Prime Numbers I

“A prime number is one (which is) measured by a unit alone.” (Euclid, “The Elements”, Book VII) 

“Numbers prime to one another are those which are measured by a unit alone as a common measure.” (Euclid, “The Elements”, Book VII)

 "Mathematicians have tried in vain to this day to discover some order in the sequence of prime numbers, and we have reason to believe that it is a mystery into which the mind will never penetrate." (Leonhard Euler)

"The problem of distinguishing prime numbers from composite numbers and of resolving the latter into their prime factors is known to be one of the most important and useful in arithmetic. […] The dignity of the science itself seems to require that every possible means be explored for the solution of a problem so elegant and so celebrated.” (Carl Friedrich Gauss, "Disquisitiones Arithmeticae”, 1801)

“The difference of two square numbers is always a product, and divisible both by the sum and by the difference of the roots of those two squares; consequently the difference of two squares can never be a prime number.” (Leonhard Euler, “Elements of Algebra”, 1810)

"We found a beautiful and most general proposition, namely, that every integer is either a square, or the sum of two, three or at most four squares. This theorem depends on some of the most recondite mysteries of numbers, and it is not possible to present its proof on the margin of this page." (Pierre de Fermat)

"A prime number, which exceeds a multiple of four by unity, is only once the hypotenuse of a right triangle." (Pierre de Fermat)

"The theory of Numbers has always been regarded as one of the most obviously useless branches of Pure Mathematics. The accusation is one against which there is no valid defence; and it is never more just than when directed against the parts of the theory which are more particularly concerned with primes. A science is said to be useful if its development tends to accentuate the existing inequalities in the distribution of wealth, or more directly promotes the destruction of human life. The theory of prime numbers satisfies no such criteria. Those who pursue it will, if they are wise, make no attempt to justify their interest in a subject so trivial and so remote, and will console themselves with the thought that the greatest mathematicians of all ages have found it in it a mysterious attraction impossible to resist." (Georg H Hardy, 1915)

“The mystery that clings to numbers, the magic of numbers, may spring from this very fact, that the intellect, in the form of the number series, creates an infinite manifold of well distinguishable individuals. Even we enlightened scientists can still feel it e.g. in the impenetrable law of the distribution of prime numbers." (Hermann Weyl, “Philosophy of Mathematics and Natural Science”, 1927)

“The mystery that clings to numbers, the magic of numbers, may spring from this very fact, that the intellect, in the form of the number series, creates an infinite manifold of well-distinguished individuals. Even we enlightened scientists can still feel it, e.g., in the impenetrable law of the distribution of prime numbers.” (Hermann Weyl, “Philosophy of Mathematics and Natural Science”, 1949)

On Numbers: Prime Numbers II

"The prime numbers are useful in analyzing problems concerning divisibility, and also are interesting in themselves because of some of the special properties which they possess as a class. These properties have fascinated mathematicians and others since ancient times, and the richness and beauty of the results of research in this field have been astonishing." (C H Denbow & V Goedicke, “Foundations of Mathematics”, 1959)

 “No branch of number theory is more saturated with mystery than the study of prime numbers: those exasperating, unruly integerst hat refuse to be divided evenly by any integers except themselves and 1. Some problems concerning primes are so simple that a child can understand them and yet so deep and far from solved that many mathematicians now suspect they have no solution. Perhaps they are ‘undecidable’. Perhaps number theory, like quantum mechanics, has its own uncertainty principle that makes it necessary, in certain areas, to abandon exactness for probabilistic formulations." (Martin Gardner, "The remarkable lore of the prime numbers", Scientific American, 1964)

“[…] there is no apparent reason why one number is prime and another not. To the contrary, upon looking at these numbers one has the feeling of being in the presence of one of the inexplicable secrets of creation.” (Don Zagier, “The First 50 Million Prime Numbers”, The Mathematical Intelligencer, Volume 0, 1977)

"Prime numbers have always fascinated mathematicians, professional and amateur alike. They appear among the integers, seemingly at random, and yet not quite: there seems to be some order or pattern, just a little below the surface, just a little out of reach." (Underwood Dudley, “Elementary Number Theory”, 1978)

"Some order begins to emerge from this chaos when the primes are considered not in their individuality but in the aggregate; one considers the social statistics of the primes and not the eccentricities of the individuals." (Philip J Davis & Reuben Hersh, “The Mathematical Experience”, 1981)

“Prime numbers. It was all so neat and elegant. Numbers that refuse to cooperate, that don’t change or divide, numbers that remain themselves for all eternity.” (Paul Auster, “The Music of Chance”, 1990) "It is evident that the primes are randomly distributed but, unfortunately, we don't know what 'random' means.'' (Rob C Vaughan, 1990)

“To me, that the distribution of prime numbers can be so accurately represented in a harmonic analysis is absolutely amazing and incredibly beautiful. It tells of an arcane music and a secret harmony composed by the prime numbers.” (Enrico Bombieri, ”PrimeTerritory", The Sciences, 1992)

"Prime numbers are the most basic objects in mathematics. They also are among the most mysterious, for after centuries of study, the structure of the set of prime numbers is still not well understood […]" (Andrew Granville, 1997)

"To some extent the beauty of number theory seems to be related to the contradiction between the simplicity of the integers and the complicated structure of the primes, their building blocks. This has always attracted people." (Andreas Knauf, "Number Theory, Dynamical Systems and Statistical Mechanics", 1998)

"Since they represent so natural a sequence, it is almost irresistible to search for patterns among the primes. There are however no genuinely useful formulas for prime numbers. That is to say there is no rule that allows you to generate all prime numbers or even to calculate a sequence that consists entirely of different primes." (Peter M Higgins, "Number Story: From Counting to Cryptography", 2008)

On Numbers: Prime Numbers III

“One of the remarkable aspects of the distribution of prime numbers is their tendency to exhibit global regularity and local irregularity. The prime numbers behave like the ‘ideal gases”’which physicists are so fond of. Considered from an external point of view, the distribution is - in broad terms - deterministic, but as soon as we try to describe the situation at a given point, statistical fluctuations occur as in a game of chance where it is known that on average the heads will match the tail but where, at any one moment, the next throw cannot be predicted.” (Gerald Tenenbaum & Michael M France, “The Prime Numbers and Their Distribution”, 2000)

“"As archetypes of our representation of the world, numbers form, in the strongest sense, part of ourselves, to such an extent that it can legitimately be asked whether the subject of study of arithmetic is not the human mind itself. From this a strange fascination arises: how can it be that these numbers, which lie so deeply within ourselves, also give rise to such formidable enigmas? Among all these mysteries, that of the prime numbers is undoubtedly the most ancient and most resistant." (Gerald Tenenbaum & Michael M France, “The Prime Numbers and Their Distribution”, 2000)

“Prime numbers belong to an exclusive world of intellectual conceptions. We speak of those marvelous notions that enjoy simple, elegant description, yet lead to extreme - one might say unthinkable - complexity in the details. The basic notion of primality can be accessible to a child, yet no human mind harbors anything like a complete picture. In modern times, while theoreticians continue to grapple with the profundity of the prime numbers, vast toil and resources have been directed toward the computational aspect, the task of finding, characterizing, and applying the primes in other domains." (Richard Crandall and Carl Pomerance, “PrimeNumbers: A Computational Perspective”, 2001)

“The primes have tantalized mathematicians since the Greeks, because they appear to be somewhat randomly distributed but not completely so."(Timothy Gowers, “Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction”, 2002)

“The beauty of mathematics is that clever arguments give answers to problems for which brute force is hopeless, but there is no guarantee that a clever argument always exists! We just saw a clever argument to prove that there are infinitely many primes, but we don't know any argument to prove that there are infinitely many pairs of twin primes.”  (David Ruelle, “The Mathematician's Brain”, 2007)

“Although the prime numbers are rigidly determined, they somehow feel like experimental data." Timothy Gowers, “Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction”, 2002)

“[Primes] are full of surprises and very mysterious […] They are like things you can touch. […][ In mathematics most things are abstract, but I have some feeling that I can touch the primes, as if they are made of a really physical material. To me, the integers as a whole are like physical particles.” (Yoichi Motohashi, “The Riemann Hypothesis: The Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics”, 2002)

“[…] despite their apparent simplicity and fundamental character, prime numbers remain the most mysterious objects studied by mathematicians. In a subject dedicated to finding patterns and order, the primes offer the ultimate challenge.” (Marcus du Sautoy, “The Music of the Primes”, 2003)

“The primes have been a constant companion in our exploration of the mathematical world yet they remain the most enigmatic of all numbers. Despite the best efforts of the greatest mathematical minds to explain the modulation and transformation of this mystical music, the primes remain an unanswered riddle.” (Marcus du Sautoy, “The Music of the Primes”, 2003)

On Numbers: The Infinity in Numbers

“When the consequences of either assumption are the same, we should always assume that things are finite rather than infinite in number, since in things constituted by nature that which is infinite and that which is better ought, if possible, to be present rather than the reverse […]” (Aristotle)

“But of all other ideas, it is number, which I think furnishes us with the clearest and most distinct idea of infinity we are capable of.” (John Locke)

"For any number there exists a corresponding even number which is its double. Hence the number of all numbers is not greater than the number of even numbers, that is, the whole is not greater than the part." (Gottfried W Leibniz)

“I regard the whole of arithmetic as a necessary, or at least natural, consequence of the simplest arithmetical act, that of counting, and counting itself as nothing else than the successive creation of the infinite series of positive integers in which each individual is defined by the one immediately preceding […]” (Richard Dedekind, “On Continuity and Irrational Numbers”, 1872)

 “If you can take away some of the terms of a collection, without diminishing the number of terms, then there is an infinite number of terms in the collection.” (Bertrand Russell)

"The prototype of all infinite processes is repetition. […] Our very concept of the infinite derives from the notion that what has been said or done once can always be repeated.” (Tobias Dantzig, “Number: The Language of Science”, 1930)

“The sequence of numbers which grows beyond any stage already reached by passing to the next number is a manifold of possibilities open towards infinity, it remains forever in the status of creation, but is not a closed realm of things existing in themselves. That we blindly converted one into the other is the true source of our difficulties […]” (Hermann Weyl, “Mathematics and Logic”, 1946)

"[…] infinity is not a large number or any kind of number at all; at least of the sort we think of when we say 'number'. It certainly isn't the largest number that could exist, for there isn't any such thing." (Isaac Asimov)

"Each act of creation could be symbolized as a particular product of infinity and zero. From each such product could emerge a particular entity of which the appropriate symbol was a particular number." (Srinivasa Ramanujan)

“Mathematics is the only infinite human activity. It is conceivable that humanity could eventually learn everything in physics or biology. But humanity certainly won't ever be able to find out everything in mathematics, because the subject is infinite. Numbers themselves are infinite.” (Paul Erdős)

The Arithmetic behind Numbers

"[Arithmetic] has a very great and elevating effect, compelling the soul to reason about abstract numbers, and rebelling against the introduction of visible or tangible objects into the argument." (Plato)

 “Arithmetic has for its object the properties of number in the abstract. In algebra, viewed as a science of operations, order is the predominating idea. The business of geometry is with the evolution of the properties of space, or of bodies viewed as existing in space.” (James J Sylvester, “A Probationary Lecture on Geometry”, 1844)

"The mathematical phenomenon always develops out of simple arithmetic, so useful in everyday life, out of numbers, those weapons of the gods; the gods are there, behind the wall, at play with numbers." (Le Corbusier)

“I regard the whole of arithmetic as a necessary, or at least natural, consequence of the simplest arithmetical act, that of counting, and counting itself as nothing else than the successive creation of the infinite series of positive integers in which each individual is defined by the one immediately preceding […]” (Richard Dedekind, “On Continuity and Irrational Numbers”, 1872)

“Arithmetic must be discovered in just the same sense in which Columbus discovered the West Indies, and we no more create numbers than he created the Indians.” (Bertrand Russell, “The Principles of Mathematics”, 1903)

“Arithmetic does not present to us that feeling of continuity which is such a precious guide; each whole number is separate from the next of its kind and has in a sense individuality; each in a manner is an exception and that is why general theorems are rare in the theory of numbers; and that is why those theorems which may exist are more hidden and longer escape those who are searching for them.” (Henri Poincaré, “Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution”, 1909)

“The way to enable a student to apprehend the instrumental value of arithmetic is not to lecture him on the benefit it will be to him in some remote and uncertain future, but to let him discover that success in something he is interested in doing depends on ability to use numbers.” (John Dewey, “Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education”, 1916)

“In other words, without a theory, a plan, the mere mechanical manipulation of the numbers in a problem does not necessarily make sense just because you are using Arithmetic!” (Lillian R Lieber, “The Education of T.C. MITS”, 1944)

“For it is true, generally speaking, that mathematics is not a popular subject, even though its importance may be generally conceded. The reason for this is to be found in the common superstition that mathematics is but a continuation, a further development, of the fine art of arithmetic, of juggling with numbers.” (David Hilbert, “Anschauliche Geometrie”, 1932)

“Arithmetic, then, means dealing logically with certain facts that we know, about numbers, with a view to arriving at knowledge which as yet we do not possess.” (Anonymous)

On Numbers: Defining Numbers

“Number is the bond of the eternal continuance of things.” (Plato)

“Measure, time and number are nothing but modes of thought or rather of imagination.” (Baruch Spinoza, [Letter to Ludvicus Meyer] 1663)

"[…] if number is merely the product of our mind, space has a reality outside our mind whose laws we cannot a priori completely prescribe" (Carl F Gauss, 1830)

"Numbers are intellectual witnesses that belong only to mankind, and by whose means we can achieve an understanding of words." (Honore de Balzac)

"Numbers constitute the only universal language." (Nathanael West, “Miss Lonelyhearts”, 1933)

“[…] there are terms which cannot be defined, such as number and quantity. Any attempt at a definition would only throw difficulty in the student’s way, which is already done in geometry by the attempts at an explanation of the terms point, straight line, and others, which are to be found in treatise on that subject.” (Augustus de Morgan, “On the Study and Difficulties of Mathematics”, 1943)

“Numbers have neither substance, nor meaning, nor qualities. They are nothing but marks, and all that is in them we have put into them by the simple rule of straight succession.” (Hermann Weyl, “Mathematics and the Laws of Nature”, 1959)

“[…] numbers are free creations of the human mind; they serve as a means of apprehending more easily and more sharply the difference of things.” (Richard Dedekind, “Essays on the Theory of Numbers”, 1963)

“Numbers are not just counters; they are elements in a system.” (Scott Buchanan, “Poetry and Mathematics”, 1975)

“Number is therefore the most primitive instrument of bringing an unconscious awareness of order into consciousness.” (Marie-Louise von Frany, “Creation Myths”, 1995)

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On Numbers: The Power of Numbers II

“All things which can be known have number; for it is not possible that without number anything can be either conceived or known.” (Philolaus)

“Whenever a man can get hold of numbers, they are invaluable: if correct, they assist in informing his own mind, but they are still more useful in deluding the minds of others. Numbers are the masters of the weak, but the slaves of the strong.” (Charles Babbage, “Passages From the Life of a Philosopher”, 1864)

“Although he may not always recognize his bondage, modern man lives under a tyranny of numbers.” (Nicholas Eberstadt)

“Words and numbers are of equal value, for, in the cloak of knowledge, one is warp and the other woof. It is no more important to count the sands than it is to name the stars.” (Norton Juster, “The Phantom Tollbooth”, 1989)

“Numbers, in fact, are the atoms of the universe, combining with everything else.” (Calvin C Clawson, Mathematical Mysteries: The Beauty and Magic of Numbers”, 1996)

“There is no inquiry which is not finally reducible to a question of Numbers; for there is none which may not be conceived of as consisting in the determination of quantities by each other, according to certain relations.” (Auguste Comte)

“Numbers have undoubted powers to beguile and benumb, but critics must probe behind numbers to the character of arguments and the biases that motivate them.” (Stephen Jay Gould, “An Urchin in the Storm: Essays About Books and Ideas”, 1987)

“[…] a single number has more genuine and permanent value than an expensive library full of hypotheses.” (Robert Mayer, [Letter to Griesinger], 1844)

“Numbers have souls, and you can’t help but get involved with them in a personal way.” (Paul Auster, “The Music of Chance”, 1990)

“You can be moved to tears by numbers - provided they are encoded and decoded fast enough.” (Richard Dawkins, “River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life”, 1995)

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On Numbers: The Power of Numbers I

"The qualities of number appear to lead to the apprehension of truth." (Plato)

"Wherever there is number, there is beauty." (Diadochus Proclus)

"All was numbers." (Pythagoras)

"Number is the ruler of forms and ideas, and the cause of gods and demons." (Pythagoras)

"Number was the substance of all things." (Pythagoras)

"Number rules the universe." (Pythagoras)

"Take from all things their number and all shall perish." (Saint Isidore of Seville)

"The God that reigns in Olympus is Number Eternal." (Carl Gustav Jacobi)

"All mathematical forms have a primary subsistence in the soul so that prior to the sensible she contains self-motive numbers." (Thomas Taylor)

"Numbers are the sources of form and energy in the world. They are dynamic and active even among themselves […] almost human in their capacity for mutual influence." (Theon of Symyma)

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On Numbers: God and Numbers

“[…] the knowledge we have of the Mathematicks, hath no reason to elate us; since by them we know but numbers, and figures, creatures of our own, and are yet ignorant of our Maker’s.” (Joseph Glanvill, “The Vanity of Dogmatizing”, 1661)

 “The laws of thought, and especially of number, must hold good in heaven, whether it is a place or a state of mind; for they are independent of any particular sphere of existence, essential to Being itself, to God’s being as well as ours, laws of His mind before we learned them. The multiplication table will hold good in heaven […]” (Hilda P Hudson)

“Since we are assured that the all-wise Creator has observed the most exact proportions of number, weight and measure in the make of all things, the most likely way therefore to get any insight into the nature of those parts of the Creation which come within our observation must in all reason be to number, weigh and measure.” (Stephen Hales, “Vegetable Staticks”, 1961)

"God made the natural numbers. all else is the work of man." (Leopold Kronecker)

“It is a right, yes a duty, to search in cautious manner for the numbers, sizes, and weights, the norms for everything [God] has created. For He himself has let man take part in the knowledge of these things […] For these secrets are not of the kind whose research should be forbidden; rather they are set before our eyes like a mirror so that by examining them we observe to some extent the goodness and wisdom of the Creator.” (Johannes Kepler)

"God may not play dice with the universe, but something strange is going on with the prime numbers." (Paul Erdős)

“We know that there is an infinite, and we know not its nature. As we know it to be false that numbers are finite, it is therefore true that there is a numerical infinity. But we know not of what kind; it is untrue that it is even, untrue that it is odd; for the addition of a unit does not change its nature; yet it is a number, and every number is odd or even (this certainly holds of every finite number). Thus we may quite well know that there is a God without knowing what He is.” (Blaise Pascal, “Pensées”, 1670)

“Uneven numbers are the god’s delight” (Virgil)

“What else can the human mind hold besides numbers and magnitudes? These alone we apprehend correctly, and if piety permits to say so, our comprehension is in this case of the same kind as God’s, at least insofar as we are able to understand it in this mortal life.” (Johannes Kepler)

"The God that reigns in Olympus is Number Eternal.” (Carl Gustav Jacobi)

"God created everything by number, weight and measure.” (Sir Isaac Newton)

"Number is the ruler of forms and ideas, and the cause of gods and demons." (Pythagoras)

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On Complex Numbers III

"[geometrical representation of complex numbers] completely established the intuitive meaning of complex numbers, and more is not needed to admit these quantities into the domain of arithmetic." (Carl F Gauss, 1831) 

“Nearly fifty years had passed without any progress on the question of analytic representation of an arbitrary function, when an assertion of Fourier threw new light on the subject. Thus a new era began for the development of this part of Mathematics and this was heralded in a stunning way by major developments in mathematical Physics.” (Bernhard Riemann, 1854)

"I recall my own emotions: I had just been initiated into the mysteries of the complex number. I remember my bewilderment: here were magnitudes patently impossible and yet susceptible of manipulations which lead to concrete results. It was a feeling of dissatisfaction, of restlessness, a desire to fill these illusory creatures, these empty symbols, with substance. Then I was taught to interpret these beings in a concrete geometrical way. There came then an immediate feeling of relief, as though I had solved an enigma, as though a ghost which had been causing me apprehension turned out to be no ghost at all, but a familiar part of my environment." (Tobias Dantzig, “The Two Realities”, 1930)

“[…] imaginary numbers made their own way into arithmetical calculation without the approval, and even against the desires of individual mathematicians, and obtained wider circulation only gradually and the extent to which they showed themselves useful.” (Felix Klein, “Elementary Mathematics from an Advanced Standpoint”, 1945)

“The sweeping development of mathematics during the last two centuries is due in large part to the introduction of complex numbers; paradoxically, this is based on the seemingly absurd notion that there are numbers whose squares are negative.” (Emile Borel, 1952)

"For centuries [the concept of complex numbers] figured as a sort of mystic bond between reason and imagination.” (Tobias Dantzig)

"The whole apparatus of the calculus takes on an entirely different form when developed for the complex numbers." (Keith Devlin) "There can be very little of present-day science and technology that is not dependent on complex numbers in one way or another." (Keith Devlin)

 “[…] to the unpreoccupied mind, complex numbers are far from natural or simple and they cannot be suggested by physical observations. Furthermore, the use of complex numbers is in this case not a calculational trick of applied mathematics but comes close to being a necessity in the formulation of quantum mechanics.” (Eugene Wigner, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences”, 1960)

“Nothing in our experience suggests the introduction of [complex numbers]. Indeed, if a mathematician is asked to justify his interest in complex numbers, he will point, with some indignation, to the many beautiful theorems in the theory of equations, of power series, and of analytic functions in general, which owe their origin to the introduction of complex numbers. The mathematician is not willing to give up his interest in these most beautiful accomplishments of his genius.” (Eugene P Wigner, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences”, Communications in Pure and Applied Mathematics 13 (1), 1960) 

“The letter ‘i’ originally was meant to suggest the imaginary nature of this number, but with the greater abstraction of mathematics, it came to be realized that it was no more imaginary than many other mathematical constructs. True, it is not suitable for measuring quantities, but it obeys the same laws of arithmetic as do the real numbers, and, surprisingly enough, it makes the statement of various physical laws very natural.” (John A Paulos, “Beyond Numeracy”, 1991)

"The only reason that we like complex numbers is that we don't like real numbers." (Bernd Sturmfels)

See also:
5 Books 10 Quotes: Complex Numbers
Complex Numbers IV
Complex Numbers II
Complex Numbers I