“The actual infinite arises in three contexts: first when it is realized in the most complete form, in a fully independent otherworldly being, in Deo, where I call it the Absolute Infinite or simply Absolute; second when it occurs in the contingent, created world; third when the mind grasps it in abstracto as a mathematical magnitude, number or order type.” WorldMindFirstsFormOrderThreeNumbersTypeLogicThirdsAbsolutesInfiniteIndependentAriseCertaintyMathematicalUncertaintyReasoningMagnitudeOntologyFinite Number Author:Georg Cantor
“A mathematician of the first rank, Laplace quickly revealed himself as only a mediocre administrator; from his first work we saw that we had been deceived. Laplace saw no question from its true point of view; he sought subtleties everywhere; had only doubtful ideas, and finally carried the spirit of the infinitely small into administration.” FirstsIdeasSpiritWorkViewsSawsMathematicsMathPoint Of ViewAdministrationMathematicalMediocrityMathematicianMediocreDeceivedDoubtfulSubtletyAdministrators Author:Napoleon Bonaparte
“Courage is not a quality one normally associates with mathematicians. Yet it should apply to people who work in their attics in secret for seven years without cease on a problem that has eluded the greatest mathematical minds since first proposed in 1637.” PeopleShouldYearsMindFirstsProblemSecretQualitySevenCeaseMathematicalMathematicianAssociatesSeven YearsAttics Author:Charles Krauthammer
“Il y a deux sortes d'esprits, l'un ge ome trique, et l'autre que l'on peut appeler de finesse. Le premier a des vues lentes, dures et inflexibles; mais le dernier a une souplesse de pense e. There are two kinds of mind, one mathematical, the other what one might call the intuitive. The first takes a slow, firm, inflexible view, but the latter has flexibility of thought.” MindFirstsKindTwoMightViewsMathematicalFirmLatterFlexibilityIntuitiveFinesse Author:Blaise Pascal