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James Joseph Sylvester Quotes

Mathematician

James Joseph Sylvester was an outstanding mathematician known for his contributions to algebra, number theory, and mathematical physics. Born on September 3, 1814, and died on March 15, 1897, Sylvester's work had a profound impact on later mathematicians.

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Famous James Joseph Sylvester Quotes

“The object of pure Mathematic (is) that of unfolding the laws of human intelligence.”

Humans Law Objects Pure Unfolding Human Intelligence

Author:James Joseph Sylvester

“Chemistry has the same quickening and suggestive influence upon the algebraist as a visit to the Royal Academy, or the old masters may be supposed to have on a Browning or a Tennyson. Indeed it seems to me that an exact homology exists between painting and poetry on the one hand and modem chemistry and modem algebra on the other. In poetry and algebra we have the pure idea elaborated and expressed through the vehicle of language, in painting and chemistry the idea enveloped in matter, depending in part on manual processes and the resources of art for its due manifestation.”

“The theory of ramification is one of pure colligation, for it takes no account of magnitude or position; geometrical lines are used, but these have no more real bearing on the matter than those employed in genealogical tables have in explaining the laws of procreation.”

Real Matter Law Used Lines Position Theory Pure Accounts Mathematics Tables Math Mathematical Employed Explaining Magnitude Procreation Ramifications

Author:James Joseph Sylvester

“The object of pure Physic[s] is the unfolding of the laws of the intelligible world; the object of pure Mathematic[s] that of unfolding the laws of human intelligence.”

World Humans Law Objects Pure Mathematics Physics Unfolding Human Intelligence

Author:James Joseph Sylvester