14 December 2019

Henri Lebesgue - Collected Quotes

"The real difficulty lies in the fact that only a finite number of angels can dance on the head of a pin, whereas the mathematician is more apt to be interested in the infinite angel problem only." (Henri Lebesgue, "Mechanized Mathematics", Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society Vol. 72 (5), 1966)

"In my opinion a mathematician, in so far as he is a mathematician, need not preoccupy himself with philosophy - an opinion, moreover, which has been expressed by many philosophers." (Henri Lebesgue)

"Logic makes us reject certain arguments but it cannot make us believe any argument." (Henri Lebesgue)

"Mathematicians have never been in full agreement on their science, though it is said to be the science of self-evident verities - absolute, indisputable and definitive. They have always been in controversy over the developing aspects of mathematics, and they have always considered their own age to be a period of crisis." (Henri Lebesgue)

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