"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)
"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)
"Chess represents a contest between two forces, and consequently the general principles which govern a battle in its widest significance, are also applicable to the game of Chess." (Dr. Max Euwe, "Strategy & Tactices in chess", 1937)
"[…] that all science is merely a game can be easily discarded as a piece of wisdom too easily come by. But it is legitimate to enquire whether science is not liable to indulge in play within the closed precincts of its own method. Thus, for instance, the scientist’s continuous penchant for systems tends in the direction of play." (Johan Huizinga, "Homo Ludens", 1938)
"Geometry, whatever others may think, is the study of different shapes, many of them very beautiful, having harmony, grace and symmetry. […] Most of us, if we can play chess at all, are content to play it on a board with wooden chess pieces; but there are some who play the game blindfolded and without touching the board. It might be a fair analogy to say that abstract geometry is like blindfold chess – it is a game played without concrete objects." (Edward Kasner & James R Newman, "New Names for Old", 1940)
"Reductio ad absurdum, which Euclid loved so much, is one of a mathematician's finest weapons. It is a far finer gambit than any chess play: a chess player may offer the sacrifice of a pawn or even a piece, but a mathematician offers the game." (Godfrey H Hardy, "A Mathematician's Apology", 1940)
"A serious threat to the very life of science is implied in the assertion that mathematics is nothing but a system of conclusions drawn from definitions and postulates that must be consistent but otherwise may be created by the free will of the mathematician. If this description were accurate, mathematics could not attract any intelligent person. It would be a game with definitions, rules and syllogisms, without motivation or goal." (Richard Courant & Herbert Robbins, "What Is Mathematics?", 1941)
"While these games are not typical for major economic processes, they contain some universally important traits of all games and the results derived from them are the basis of the general theory of games." (John von Neumann & Oskar Morgenstern, "Theory of Games and Economic Behavior", 1944)
"You believe in the God who plays dice, and I in complete law and order in a world that objectively exists, and which I, in a wildly speculative way, am trying to capture. [...] Even the great initial success of the quantum theory does not make me believe in the fundamental dice-game, although I am well aware that our younger colleagues interpret this as a consequence of senility. No doubt the day will come when we will see whose instinctive attitude was the correct one." (Albert Einstein, [Letter to Max Born] 1944)
"If scientific reasoning were limited to the logical processes of arithmetic, we should not get very far in our understanding of the physical world. One might as well attempt to grasp the game of poker entirely by the use of the mathematics of probability." (Vannevar Bush, "As We May Think", Atlantic Monthly, 1945)
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