Quotable Mathematics

"The fact must be expressed as data, but there is a problem in that the correct data is difficult to catch. So that I always say 'W...

"The equation e^πi+1 = 0 is true only by virtue of a large number of profound connections across many fields. It is true be...

"When the formulas admit of intelligible interpretation, they are accessions to knowledge; but independently of their interpretation th...

"A transcendental number is defined as a number that isn’t the solution of any polynomial equation with integer constants times the x’s...

"Arithmetical symbols are written diagrams and geometrical figures are graphic formulas." (David Hilbert, Bulletin of the American...

"Every growth process obeys some simple symmetries. For example, the laws of physics are independent of where we define the zero heig...

"The Mathematics, like language, (of which indeed they may be considered a species,) comprehending under that designation the whole sci...

"Here I am at the limit which God and nature has assigned to my individuality. I am compelled to depend upon word, language and image i...

"Science gains from it [the pendulum] more than one can expect. With its huge dimensions, the apparatus presents qualities that one wou...

"What is a philosophy? It Is an answer satisfactory to the reason to all the great problems of life. That is what is meant by philosoph...

"The science of physics does not only give us [mathematicians] an opportunity to solve problems, but helps us also to discover the mean...

“[…] mystery is an inescapable ingredient of mathematics. Mathematics is full of unanswered questions, which far outnumber known theorems an...

"If an event can be produced by a number n of different causes, the probabilities of the existence of these causes, given the event (pr...

"We do not perceive any quantity such as that its square is negative!" (Bhāskara II, "Bijaganita", 12th century) ...

“The mathematician is perfect only in so far as he is a perfect man, in so far as he senses in himself the beauty of truth; only then will h...

“Mathematics is not a popular subject, even though its importance may be generally conceded. The reason for this is to be found in the commo...

"It is easily seen from a consideration of the nature of demonstration and analysis that there can and must be truths which cannot be r...