On Phenomena (1915-1929)

"Of itself an arithmetic average is more likely to conceal than to disclose important facts; it is the nature of an abbreviation, and is often an excuse for laziness." (Arthur L Bowley, "The Nature and Purpose of the Measurement of Social Phenomena", 1915)

"In Continuity, it is impossible to distinguish phenomena at their merging-points, so we look for them at their extremes." (Charles Fort, "The Book of the Damned", 1919)

"[...] mathematics is an entirely free activity, unconditioned by the external world, it is more just to call it an art than a science. It is as independent as music of the external world; and although, unlike music, it can be used to illuminate natural phenomena, it is just as 'subjective', just as much a product of the free creative imagination. And it is not at all difficult to discover that the mathematicians are impelled by the same incentives and experience the same satisfactions as other artists." (John W N Sullivan, "Aspects of Science", 1923) 

"We wish to obtain a representation of phenomena and form an image of them in our minds. Till now, we have always attempted to form these images by means of the ordinary notions of time and space. These notions are perhaps innate; in any case they have been developed by our daily observations. For me, these notions are clear, and I confess that I am unable to gain any idea of physics without them. […] I would like to retain this ideal of other days and describe everything that occurs in this world in terms of clear pictures." (Hendrik A Lorentz, [Fifth Solvay Conference] 1927)

"In games of chance, in the problems of insurance, and in the molecular processes we find events repeating themselves again and again. They are mass phenomena or repetitive events." (Richard von Mises, Probability, Statistics And Truth, 1928)

"When we look at a very large number of small objects that are close together the idea of continuum arises within us. […] Even if we believe to perceive a continuum in front of us, a more accurate observation will often convince us that we are only observing a dense succession of small particles." (Felix Klein, "Elementary Mathematics from a Higher Standpoint" Vol III: "Precision Mathematics and Approximation Mathematics", 1928)