George Sarton - Collected Quotes

"The more science enters into our lives, the more it must be 'humanized', and there is no better way to humanize it than to study its history." (George Sarton, "An Institute for the History of Science and Civilization", Science Vol. 40 (1100), 1917)

"From the point of view of the history of science, transmission is as essential as discovery." (George Sarton, "Introduction to the History of Science" Vol. 2, 1927)

"Mysteries which we have driven outside of the boundaries of our knowledge and which we have located and encompassed, such mysteries will not harm us; on the contrary they will stimulate and inspire us in many ways; the dangerous mysteries are those which are hopelessly mingled with our knowledge, and of which we are perhaps unaware." (George Sarton, "The History of Science and the New Humanism", 1928)

"Science is neither philosophy, nor religion, nor art; it is the totality of positive knowledge, as closely knit as possible; it is as different from its practical applications on the one hand, as it is from idle theorizing and blind faith on the other. It behooves us to make no extravagant claims for it, and to be as humble as we can." (George Sarton, "The History of Science and the New Humanism", 1928)

"Science tends to destroy the darkness where evil and injustice breed, but there is also some element of beauty and poetry in that darkness." (George Sarton, "The History of Science and the New Humanism", 1928)

"Science, like art and religion - neither more nor less - is a form of man's reaction against nature. It is an attempt to explain nature in its own terms, that is, to evidence its unity, wholeness, and congruency." (George Sarton, "The History of Science and the New Humanism", 1928)

"The study of history, and especially of the history of science, may thus be regarded, not only as a source of wisdom and humanism, but also as a regulator for our consciences: it helps us not to be complacent, arrogant, too sanguine of success, and yet remain grateful and hopeful, and never to cease working quietly for the accomplishment of our own task." (George Sarton, "The History of Science and the New Humanism", 1928)

"Mathematicians and other scientists, however great they may be, do not know the future. Their genius may enable them to project their purpose ahead of them; it is as if they had a special lamp, unavailable to lesser men, illuminating their path; but even in the most favorable cases the lamp sends only a very small cone of light into the infinite darkness." (George Sarton, "The Study of the History of Mathematics", 1936)

"Mathematics gives to science its innermost unity and cohesion, which can never be entirely replaced with props and buttresses or with roundabout connections, no matter how many of these may be introduced." (George Sarton, "The Study of the History of Mathematics", 1936)

"The concatenations of mathematical ideas are not divorced from life, far from it, but they are less influenced than other scientific ideas by accidents, and it is perhaps more possible, and more permissible, for a mathematician than for any other man to secrete himself in a tower of ivory." (George Sarton, "The Study of the History of Mathematics", 1936)

"The main source of mathematical invention seems to be within man rather than outside of him: his own inveterate and insatiable curiosity, his constant itching for intellectual adventure; and likewise the main obstacles to mathematical progress seem to be also within himself; his scandalous inertia and laziness, his fear of adventure, his need of conformity to old standards, and his obsession by mathematical ghosts." (George Sarton, "The Study of the History of Mathematics", 1936)

"The history of science is the only history which can illustrate the progress of mankind. In fact, progress has no definite and unquestionable meaning in fields other than the fields of science." (George Sarton,"The Study of The History of Science", 1936)

"The great intellectual division of mankind is not along geographical or racial lines, but between those who understand and practice the experimental method and those who do not understand and do not practice it." (George Sarton, "A History of Science", 1948)

"A deed happens in a definite place at a definite time, but if it be sufficiently great and pregnant, its virtue radiates everywhere in time and space." (George Sarton, "A History of Science" Vol. 2, 1959)

"Men of science have made abundant mistakes of every kind; their knowledge has improved only because of their gradual abandonment of ancient errors, poor approximations, and premature conclusions." (George Sarton, "A History of Science" Vol. 2, 1959)

"The main duty of the historian of mathematics, as well as his fondest privilege, is to explain the humanity of mathematics, to illustrate its greatness, beauty and dignity, and to describe how the incessant efforts and accumulated genius of many generations have built up that magnificent monument, the object of our most legitimate pride as men, and of our wonder, humility, and thankfulness, as individuals. The study of the history of mathematics will not make better mathematicians but gentler ones, it will enrich their minds, mellow their hearts, and bring out their finer qualities." (George Sarton, The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 102, No. 4, 1995)