“The beginner should not be discouraged if he finds he does not have the prerequisites for reading the prerequisites.” IfsShouldDoeReadingDiscouragedBeginnersPrerequisites Author:Paul Halmos
“When a student comes and asks, "Should I become a mathematician?" the answer should be no. If you have to ask, you shouldn't even ask.” IfsShouldAsksAnswersStudentsMathShould IMathematician Author:Paul Halmos
“The most spectacular thing about Johnny [von Neumann] was not his power as a mathematician, which was great, or his insight and his clarity, but his rapidity; he was very, very fast. And like the modern computer, which no longer bothers to retrieve the logarithm of 11 from its memory (but, instead, computes the logarithm of 11 each time it is needed), Johnny didn't bother to remember things. He computed them. You asked him a question, and if he didn't know the answer, he thought for three seconds and would produce and answer.” IfsThinkingKnowsRememberScienceThreeMemoriesAnswersModernProduceNeededComputerInsightClarityBotherSecondsMathematicianSpectacularVon Neumann Author:Paul Halmos
“If the NSF had never existed, if the government had never funded American mathematics, we would have half as many mathematicians as we now have, and I don't see anything wrong with that.” IfsGovernmentScienceHalfMathematicsMathematician Book:PAUL HALMOS Celebrating 50 Years of Mathematics: Celebrating 50 Years of Mathematics Source: PAUL HALMOS Celebrating 50 Years of Mathematics: Celebrating 50 Years of Mathematics
