Rosenlicht, Max (1949)
You know we all became mathematicians for the same reason: we were lazy.
Rota, Gian-Carlo
We often hear that
mathematics consists
mainly of "proving
theorems." Is a
writer's job mainly
that of "writing
sentences?"
In preface to P.
Davis and R. Hersh,
The Mathematical
Experience,
Boston: Birkhauser,
1981.
Russell, Bertrand (1872-1970)
Mathematics takes us into the region of absolute necessity, to which not only the actual word, but every possible word, must conform.
In N. Rose Mathematical Maxims and Minims, Raleigh NC:Rome Press Inc., 1988.
Russell, Bertrand (1872-1970)
Although this may seem a paradox, all exact science is dominated by the idea of approximation.
W. H. Auden and L. Kronenberger (eds.) The Viking Book of Aphorisms, New York: Viking Press, 1966.
Russell, Bertrand (1872-1970)
At the age of
eleven, I began
Euclid, with my
brother as my tutor.
This was one of the
great events of my
life, as dazzling as
first love. I had
not imagined there
was anything so
delicious in the
world. From that
moment until I was
thirty-eight,
mathematics was my
chief interest and
my chief source of
happiness.
The Autobiography of
Bertrand Russell
Russell, Bertrand (1872-1970)
A good notation has a subtlety and suggestiveness which at times make it almost seem like a live teacher.
In J. R. Newman (ed.) The World of Mathematics, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1956.
Russell, Bertrand (1872-1970)
If I were a medical
man, I should
prescribe a holiday
to any patient who
considered his work
important.
The Autobiography of
Bertrand Russell
Russell, Bertrand (1872-1970)
Ordinary language is totally unsuited for expressing what physics really asserts, since the words of everyday life are not sufficiently abstract. Only mathematics and mathematical logic can say as little as the physicist means to say.
The Scientific Outlook, 1931.
Russell, Bertrand (1872-1970)
With equal passion I
have sought
knowledge. I have
wished to understand
the hearts of men. I
have wished to know
why the stars shine.
And I have tried to
apprehend the
Pythagorean power by
which number holds
sway about the flux.
A little of this,
but not much, I have
achieved.
The Autobiography of
Bertrand Russell
Russell, Bertrand (1872-1970)
At first it seems obvious, but the more you think about it the stranger the deductions from this axiom seem to become; in the end you cease to understand what is meant by it.
In N. Rose Mathematical Maxims and Minims, Raleigh NC:Rome Press Inc., 1988.