On Arithmetic (1950 - 1074)

"Arithmetic is where numbers fly like pigeons in and out of your head." (Carl Sandburg, "Arithmetic" [in "Complete Poems"], 1950)

"Arithmetic is numbers you squeeze from your head to your hand to your pencil to your paper till you get the answer." (Carl Sandburg, "Arithmetic" [in "Complete Poems"], 1950)

"Any one who considers arithmetical methods of producing random digits is, of course, in a state of sin. For, as has been pointed out several times, there is no such thing as a random number - there are only methods to produce random numbers, and a strict arithmetic procedure of course is not such a method." (John von Neumann, "Various techniques used in connection with random digits", 1951)

"[…] arithmetic is a calculus which starts only from certain conventions but floats as freely as the solar system and rests on nothing." (Friedrich Waismann, "Introduction to Mathematical Thinking", 1951)

"Historically, Statistics is no more than State Arithmetic, a system of computation by which differences between individuals are eliminated by the taking of an average. It has been used - indeed, still is used - to enable rulers to know just how far they may safely go in picking the pockets of their subjects." (Michael J Moroney, "Facts from Figures", 1951)

"The first acquaintance which most people have with mathematics is through arithmetic. [...] Arithmetic, therefore, will be a good subject to consider in order to discover, if possible, the most obvious characteristic of the science. Now, the first noticeable fact about arithmetic is that it applies to everything, to tastes and to sounds, to apples and to angels, to the ideas of the mind and to the bones of the body." (Alfred N Whitehead, "An Introduction to Mathematics", 1958)

"The territory of arithmetic ends where the two ideas of 'variables' and of 'algebraic form' commence their sway." (Alfred N Whitehead,  "An Introduction to Mathematics", 1958)

"The statistician has no use for information that cannot be expressed numerically, nor generally speaking, is he interested in isolated events or examples. The term ' data ' is itself plural and the statistician is concerned with the analysis of aggregates." (Alfred R Ilersic, "Statistics", 1959)

"The statistics themselves prove nothing; nor are they at any time a substitute for logical thinking. There are […] many simple but not always obvious snags in the data to contend with. Variations in even the simplest of figures may conceal a compound of influences which have to be taken into account before any conclusions are drawn from the data." (Alfred R Ilersic, "Statistics", 1959)

"There are good statistics and bad statistics; it may be doubted if there are many perfect data which are of any practical value. It is the statistician's function to discriminate between good and bad data; to decide when an informed estimate is justified and when it is not; to extract the maximum reliable information from limited and possibly biased data." (Alfred R Ilersic, "Statistics", 1959)

"While it is true to assert that much statistical work involves arithmetic and mathematics, it would be quite untrue to suggest that the main source of errors in statistics and their use is due to inaccurate calculations." (Alfred R Ilersic, "Statistics", 1959)

"Science will never be able to reduce the value of a sunset to arithmetic. Nor can it reduce friendship or statesmanship to a formula. Laughter and love, pain and loneliness, the challenge of accomplishment in living, and the depth of insight into beauty and truth; these will always surpass the scientific mastery of nature." (Louis Orr, [Commencement Address] 1960)

"Poor arithmetic will make the bridge fall down just as surely as poor physics, poor metallurgy, or poor logic will." ( Thomas T Woodson, "Introduction to Engineering Design", 1966)

"The history of arithmetic and algebra illustrates one of the striking and curious features of the history of mathematics. Ideas that seem remarkably simple once explained were thousands of years in the making." (Morris Kline, "Mathematics for the Nonmathematician", 1967)

"[...] there is an essential element in science that is cold, objective, and nonhuman…the laws of nature are as impersonal and free of human values as the rules of arithmetic.[...] Nowhere do we see human value or human meaning. (Steven Weinberg, "Reflections of a Working Scientist", Daedalus Vol. 103, 1974)