Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Timothy Gowers

Quote by Timothy Gowers

“It is obvious that mathematics needs both sorts of mathematicians, theory-builders and problem-solvers.”

Quote by Timothy Gowers

Create image

Author

Timothy Gowers
Timothy Gowers

Timothy Gowers is a British mathematician renowned for his research in combinatorial mathematics and mathematical logic. Born on November 20, 1963, he is a member of the Royal Society and has received prestigious awards such as the Fields Medal and the Crafoord Prize. more

You May Also Like

“At the other end of the spectrum is, for example, graph theory, where the basic object, a graph, can be immediately comprehended. One will not get anywhere in graph theory by sitting in an armchair and trying to understand graphs better. Neither is it particularly necessary to read much of the literature before tackling a problem: it is of course helpful to be aware of some of the most important techniques, but the interesting problems tend to be open precisely because the established techniques cannot easily be applied.”

TryingImportantEndsProblemCoursesLiteratureInterestingExampleObjectsTheorySittingMathematicsTechniqueHelpfulSpectrumTacklingArmchairsGraphs
Author:Timothy Gowers
Create image

“Of the properties of mathematics, as a language, the most peculiar one is that by playing formal games with an input mathematical text, one can get an output text which seemingly carries new knowledge. The basic examples are furnished by scientific or technological calculations: general laws plus initial conditions produce predictions, often only after time-consuming and computer-aided work. One can say that the input contains an implicit knowledge which is thereby made explicit.”

MadeLawGamesLanguageConditionsExampleProduceComputerMathematicsPropertyMathematicalCarriePlusPeculiarFormalTechnologicalPredictionsInitialsConsumingCalculationsInputExplicitOutputImplicitTime ConsumingNew Knowledge
Author:IU?. I. Manin
Create image

“Art lives on the mental plane (the real painting is not the set of dry pigments on the canvas nor is a symphony the sequence of sound waves that convey it to our ear) but, as the post-modernists insist, is reinterpreted in new contexts by each appreciator. As for gossip, which includes the vast majority of our thoughts, its essence is its relation to a unique local part of time and space.”

ArtRealSoundSpacePaintingUniqueEssenceEarsRelationMathematicsMajorityWaveLocalsPostsPlanesDryGossipCanvasOur ThoughtsTime And SpaceSequenceSymphonyPigmentArt LifeSound Waves
Author:David Mumford
Create image

“The book Dynamic Programming by Richard Bellman is an important, pioneering work in which a group of problems is collected together at the end of some chapters under the heading "Exercises and Research Problems," with extremely trivial questions appearing in the midst of deep, unsolved problems. It is rumored that someone once asked Dr. Bellman how to tell the exercises apart from the research problems, and he replied: "If you can solve it, it is an exercise; otherwise it's a research problem."”

IfsImportantBookEndsProblemTogetherGroupsExerciseResearchMathematicsSolveProgrammingMidstChaptersDrsHeadingsAppearingPioneeringUnsolved Problems
Author:Donald Knuth
Create image