Louis J Mordell - Collected Quotes

“The theory of numbers is unrivalled for the number and variety of its results and for the beauty and wealth of its demonstrations. The Higher Arithmetic seems to include most of the romance of mathematics.” (Louis J Mordell, 1917)

“Mathematical study and research are very suggestive of mountaineering. Whymper made seven efforts before he climbed the Matterhorn in the 1860’s and even then it cost the life of four of his party. Now, however, any tourist can be hauled up for a small cost, and perhaps does not appreciate the difficulty of the original ascent. So in mathematics, it may be found hard to realise the great initial difficulty of making a little step which now seems so natural and obvious, and it may not be surprising if such a step has been found and lost again.” (Louis J Mordell, “Three Lectures on Fermat’s Last Theorem”, 1921)

“What is mathematics? It has so many different aspects that the difficulties in trying to give a definition are similar to those encountered in trying to determine whether some living organisms are animal or vegetable.” (Louis J Mordell, “Reflections of a Mathematician”, 1959)

“No one will get very far or become a real mathematician without certain indispensable qualities. He must have hope, faith, and curiosity, and prime necessity is curiosity.” (Louis J Mordell, “Reflections of a Mathematician”, 1959)

“Neither you nor I nor anybody else knows what makes a mathematician tick. It is not a question of cleverness. I know many mathematicians who are far abler than I am, but they have not been so lucky. An illustration may be given by considering two miners. One may be an expert geologist, but he does not find the golden nuggets that the ignorant miner does.” (Louis J Mordell [quoted by Howard Eves, “Mathematical Circles Adieu”, 1977])