“These estimates may well be enhanced by one from F. Klein (1849-1925), the leading German mathematician of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. 'Mathematics in general is fundamentally the science of self-evident things.' ... If mathematics is indeed the science of self-evident things, mathematicians are a phenomenally stupid lot to waste the tons of good paper they do in proving the fact. Mathematics is abstract and it is hard, and any assertion that it is simple is true only in a severely technical sense—that of the modern postulational method which, as a matter of fact, was exploited by Euclid. The assumptions from which mathematics starts are simple; the rest is not.”
Quote by Eric Temple Bell
Work
Mathematics: Queen and Servant of Science
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Author
Eric Temple Bell
Eric Temple Bell was a prominent mathematician known for his contributions to combinatorics and graph theory. Born on February 7, 1883, and passing away on December 21, 1960, Bell's research spanned various areas including graph theory, combinatorics, number theory, and mathematical education. His work has had a profound impact on mathematicians that followed. more
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