Math Quotations

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Here are a few quotations which show how mathematicians viewed their subject.

Arithmetic

&ldquo;God created the natural numbers. All the rest is the work of man.&rdquo; (Leopold Kronecker; German mathematician and logician; 1823-1891.)

&quot;God does arithmetic.&quot; --Karl Friedrich Gauss

Wherever there is number there is beauty - Proclus

Geometry

God geometrises continually – Plato

&ldquo;There is no royal road to Geometry &ldquo;- Euclid

All my physics is nothing else than geometry - Descartes

If the Greeks had not cultivated conic sections, Kepler would not have superseded Ptolemy - Whewell.

Sciences &amp; Mathematics

The two eyes of exact science of mathematics and logic – De Morgan

All scientific education which does not commence with mathematics is, of necessity, defective at its foundation - Compte.

Mathematics is the indispensable instrument of all physical research - Berthelot

A natural science is a science only in so far as it is mathematical - Kant.

Mathematics is the gate and key to science – Roger Bacon

&ldquo;Mathematics is the queen of sciences&hellip;. She often condescends to render service to astronomy and other natural sciences, but in all relations, she is entitled to the first rank.&rdquo; (Carl Friedrich Gauss; German mathematician, physicist, and prodigy; 1777-1855.)

There is no branch of mathematics, however abstract, which may not someday be applied to phenomena of the real world – Nikolai Lobatchevsky

&quot;Since the mathematicians have invaded the theory of relativity, I do not understand it myself anymore.&quot; --Albert Einstein

Mathematics &amp; Society

&quot;I am accustomed, as a professional mathematician, to living in a sort of vacuum, surrounded by people who declare with an odd sort of pride that they are mathematically illiterate.&quot; --David Mumford

The progress &amp; the improvement of mathematics are linked to the prosperity of the state - Napoleon. No subject loses more than mathematics by any attempt to dissociate it from its history. Glaisher.

Mathematics – Other Branches

&quot;A topologist is one who doesn&#39;t know the difference between a doughnut and a coffee cup.&quot; --John Kelley

&quot;Statistics: the mathematical theory of ignorance.&quot; --Morris Kline

Mathematics

Mathematics is the glory of the human mind – Liebnitz

Geometry is nothing if it is not rigorous – H J S Smith

Mathematics is the most marvelous instrument created by the genius of man for the discovery of truth. - Laisant.

&quot;From the intrinsic evidence of his creation, the Great Architect of the Universe now begins to appear as a pure mathematician.&quot; --Sir James Jeans

Universe is written in the language of mathematics and its characters are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures – Galileo

&quot;The science of mathematics presents the most brilliant example of how pure reason may successfully enlarge its domain without the aid of experience.&quot; --Emmanuel Kant

&quot;[Mathematics] is an independent world created out of pure intelligence.&quot; --William Wordsworth

&quot;Mathematical proofs, like diamonds, are hard and clear, and will be touched with nothing but strict reasoning.&quot; --John Locke

The science of pure mathematics, in its modern developments, may claim to be the most original creation of the human spirit – Alfred North Whitehead

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