John B S Haldane - Collected Quotes

"And so the world of physics reduces to a manifold of transcendental events, which the mind distributes in space and time, but by so doing creates a phenomenal world which is ultimately self-contradictory." (John B S Haldane, "Possible Worlds and Other Essays", 1928)

"But a brief sketch of the world as it might appear under barely realizable or unrealizable circumstances may be as valuable as the mathematical study of the less realizable types of geometry." (John B S Haldane, "Possible Worlds and Other Essays", 1928)

"If the mathematician doubts the validity of an argument which proves the convergence of an infinite series satisfying a given criterion, he constructs a series which obeys the criterion but does not converge. Such tests are conclusive, and have shown up the inaccuracy of some trains of reasoning which were at first sight very convincing. The same method can be applied in metaphysics." (John B S Haldane, "Possible Worlds and Other Essays", 1928)

"In scientific thought we adopt the simplest theory which will explain all the facts under consideration and enable us to predict facts of the same kind. The catch in this criterion lies in the world 'simplest'." (John B S Haldane, "Possible Worlds and Other Essays", 1928)

"It is characteristic of a good scientific theory that it makes no more assumptions than are needed to explain the facts under consideration and predict a few more." (John B S Haldane, "Possible Worlds and Other Essays", 1928)

"Mathematics is the most abstract and specialized of the sciences, and in view of the very high qualifications required in a professional mathematician, might seem a hopeless field for all but a very few. And certainly  the amateur cannot hope to rival the professional at his own game. Nevertheless, there is an opening in mathematics for the class of mind that delights in numerical calculation for its own sake. Those who are so gifted tend to amuse themselves with calculations which are useless;" (John B S Haldane, "Possible Worlds and Other Essays", 1928)

"Modem science began with great acts of doubt." (John B S Haldane, "Possible Worlds and Other Essays", 1928)

"No one has ever been able to prove, for example, that every even number greater than two can be expressed as the sum of two primes. Yet this is as well established by observation as any of the laws of physics. It is known that this and various other theorems are true if a certain hypothesis about the Zeta function, enunciated by Riemann nearly a century ago, is correct. No one has been able to prove this hypothesis. It has only been shown that all the consequences deducible if it is true are so far verified by experience. But any day a computer with little knowledge of pure mathematics may disprove it. Here then is a possible triumph for the mathematical amateur." (John B S Haldane, "Possible Worlds and Other Essays", 1928)

"Physics is more than mathematics, as matter is more than space, but you cannot have the one without the other." (John B S Haldane, "Possible Worlds and Other Essays", 1928)

"Religion is a way of life and an attitude to the universe. It brings men into closer touch with the inner nature of reality. Statements of fact made in its name are untrue in detail, but often contain some truth at their core. Science is also a way of life and an attitude to the universe. It is concerned with everything but the nature of reality. Statements of fact made in its name are generally right in detail, but can only reveal the form, and not the real nature, of existence. The wise man regulates his conduct by the theories both of religion and science. But he regards these theories not as statements of ultimate fact but as art forms." (John B S Haldane, "Possible Worlds and Other Essays", 1928)

"The piano keyboard is really a rather inaccurate table of logarithms, a fact which I believe is equally ignored in the teaching of mathematics and of music." (John B S Haldane, "Possible Worlds and Other Essays", 1928)

"To sum up, science has owed its wonderful progress very largely to the habit of doubting all theories, even those on which one’s action is founded." (John B S Haldane, "Possible Worlds and Other Essays", 1928)