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Quote by John L. Casti

“To function effectively, the system scientist must know a considerable amount about the natural world AND about mathematics, without being an expert in either field. This is clearly a prescription for career disaster in today's world of ultra-high specialization.”

Quote by John L. Casti

Author

John L. Casti is a renowned author and systems theorist, born in 1943. His works span a wide range of topics including complex systems, predictive models, and scientific philosophy, which have been well-received by both academics and the public. more

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“We see an ever-increasing move toward inter and trans- disciplinary attacks upon problems in the real world ... The system scientist has a central role to play in this new order, and that role is to first of all understand ways and means of how to encode the natural world into "good" formal structures.”

World Way Firsts Mean Real Play Problem Moving Order Natural Roles Scientist Structure Real World Formal Natural World Trans

Author:John L. Casti

“The quest for precision is analogous to the quest for certainty and both - precision and certainty are impossible to attain.”

Impossible Certainty Quests Precision

Author:Karl Popper

“All models divide naturally...into two a priori parts: one is kinematics, whose aim is to parameterize the forms of the states of the process under consideration, and the other is dynamics, describing the evolution in time of these forms.”

Two States Form Process Evolution Models Aim Consideration Divides Describing Dynamics

Author:Rene Thom

“It follows that the word probability, in its mathematical acceptance, has reference to the state of our knowledge of the circumstances under which an event may happen or fail. With the degree of information we possess concerning the circumstances of an event, the reason we have to think that it will occur, or, to use a single term, our expectation of it will vary. Probability is the expectation founded upon partial knowledge.”

Thinking May States Reason Use Happens Term Failing Events Information Acceptance Circumstances Degrees Expectations Mathematical Probability Vary

Book:An Investigation of the Laws of Thought

Source: An Investigation of the Laws of Thought

“The physical laws, in their observable consequences, have a finite limit of precision.”

Law Limits Consequence Finite Precision

Author:Kurt Gödel

“Inferences of Science and Common Sense differ from those of deductive logic and mathematics in a very important respect, namely, when the premises are true and the reasoning correct, the conclusion is only probable.”

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Author:Bertrand Russell

“Any useful logic must concern itself with Ideas with a fringe of vagueness and a Truth that is a matter of degree.”

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Author:Norbert Wiener

“What we cannot think we cannot think, therefore we also cannot say what we cannot think.”

Book:Essays on language, mind, and matter, 1919-26

Source: Essays on language, mind, and matter, 1919-26

“Knowledge is to certain extent a second existence.”

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Author:Arthur Schopenhauer

“The fact that we can describe the motions of the world using Newtonian mechanics tell us nothing about the world. The fact that we do, does tell us something about the world.”

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Author:Ludwig Wittgenstein