Quotes About Mathematics

every triangle is a love triangle if you love triangles

Ex pede Herculem. "From his foot, [we can measure] Hercules", is a maxim of proportionality inspired by an experiment attributed to Pythagoras.

I find imaginary numbers useful when computing my tax deductions.

The Golden Number is a mathematical definition of a proportional function which all of nature obeys, whether it be a mollusk shell, the leaves of plants, the proportions of the animal body, the human skeleton, or the ages of growth in man.

For future reference: do not underestimate the seductive power of math.

The work of mathematicians on 'pure' problems has often yielded ideas that have waited to be rediscovered by physicists. The work of Euclid, Apollonius and Archimedes on ellipses would be used centuries later by Kepler for his theory of planetary motion.

If you told me I was at number 34 Blake Street, I'd immediately think 'double 17.' If I was at number 37, I'd think 'five, double 16.'

Abel has left mathematicians enough to keep them busy for 500 years.

If that enabled us to predict the succeeding situation with the same approximation, that is all we require, and we should say that the phenomenon had been predicted, that it is governed by the laws.

If I'm flying to China, I can sit and think about a problem. Other scientists have to go to the lab. I'm always thinking about maths, even when I'm doing other things. A lot of the time you're going up blind alleys and it's very frustrating, but then you have a sudden rush of ideas. You can live off that for quite some time.

Many people suggest using mathematics to talk to the aliens, and Dutch computer scientist Alexander Ollongren has developed an entire language (Lincos) based on this idea. But my personal opinion is that mathematics may be a hard way to describe ideas like love or democracy.

If you listen to the great Beatle records, the earliest ones where the lyrics are incredibly simple. Why are they still beautiful? Well, they're beautifully sung, beautifully played, and the mathematics in them is elegant. They retain their elegance.

We want the Exact and the Vast; we want our Dreams, and our Mathematics.

Finally, if you attempt to read this without working through a significant number of exercises (see §0.0.1), I will come to your house and pummel you with [Gr-EGA] until you beg for mercy. It is important to not just have a vague sense of what is true, but to be able to actually get your hands dirty. As Mark Kisin has said, "You can wave your hands all you want, but it still won't make you fly.

The demonstration must be against learning—science. But not every science will do. The attack must have all the shocking senselessness of gratuitous blasphemy. Since bombs are your means of expression, it would be really telling if one could throw a bomb into pure mathematics. But that is impossible… What do you think of having a go at astronomy?

The chief aim of all investigations of the external world should be to discover the rational order and harmony which has been imposed on it by God, and which he revealed to us in the language of mathematics.

Too often, though, investors forget to examine the assumptions behind the models. Beware of geeks bearing formulas.

My mission was to multiply twenty-four times nine.

We in science are spoiled by the success of mathematics. Mathematics is the study of problems so simple that they have good solutions.

If it takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 widgets, how long would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets? 100 minutes OR 5 minutes

A bat and ball cost $1.10. The bat costs one dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

Averaging is mathematically guaranteed to reduce noise:

Insa, cand au trecut de primele suburbii ale Berlinului si Humboldt si-a inchipuit cum Gauss a cercetat corpurile ceresti prin telescopul sau in tot acest timp - corpuri ceresti ale caror orbite pot fi descrise in formule simple -, n-a mai fost in stare sa spuna care dintre ei doi a ramas acasa si care a colindat lumea.

La linguistica gli sembrava la scienza adatta per le persone che hanno la pedanteria necessaria per la matematica, ma non l'intelligenza. Per le persone che si inventano una propria logica, secondo il bisogno.