Quotessence
Home / Books / Discrete Thoughts: Essays on Mathematics, Science and Philosophy

Discrete Thoughts: Essays on Mathematics, Science and Philosophy

Book by Gian-Carlo Rota · 7 quotes · Mathematics, Ifs, Adventure

Filter quotes by topic

Discrete Thoughts: Essays on Mathematics, Science and Philosophy Quotes

“THE COMPUTER IS JUST AN INSTRUMENT for doing faster what we already know how to do slower. All pretensions to computer intelligence and paradise-tomorrow promises should be toned down before the public turns away in disgust. And if that should happen, our civilization might not survive.”

“In recent years we have become much more preoccupied with streamlining and organizing our subject than with maintaining its overall vitality. If we are not careful, a great adventure of the mind will become yet another profession.”

“Making mathematics accessible to the educated layman, while keeping high scientific standards, has always been considered a treacherous navigation between the Scylla of professional contempt and the Charybdis of public misunderstanding.”