“Mystery is an inescapable ingredient of mathematics. Mathematics is full of unanswered questions, which far outnumber known theorems and results. It's the nature of mathematics to pose more problems than it can solve. Indeed, mathematics itself may be built on small islands of truth comprising the pieces of mathematics that can be validated by relatively short proofs. All else is speculation.” MayProblemResultsKnownPiecesMysteryBuiltLogicMathematicsSolveProofCertaintyUncertaintyIslandsReasoningIngredientsSpeculationOntologyTheoremsUnanswered QuestionsUnanswered Author:Ivars Peterson
“Chess is not Mathematics, where ten is always more than one; in chess the King with a pawn can beat opponent's King with all pieces if they are placed badly.” IfsPiecesKingsTenBeatsMathematicsChessOpponentsPawns Author:Ashot Nadanian
“The man who has learned that three plus one are four doesn't have to go through a proof of that assertion with coins, or dice, or chess pieces, or pencils. He knows it, and that's that. He cannot conceive a different sum. There are mathematicians who say that three plus one is a tautology for four, a different way of saying "four" ... If three plus one can be two, or fourteen, then reason is madness.” IfsKnowsMenWayTwoDifferentReasonThreeNumbersPiecesFourHe ManMadnessMathematicsProofChessDifferent WaysPlusMathematicianCoinsPencilsAssertionFourteenDiceTautologyChess Pieces Book:The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory Source: The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory
“Outside observers often assume that the more complicted a piece of mathematics is, the more mathematicians admire it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mathematicians admire elegance and simplicity above all else, and the ultimate goal in solving a problem is to find the method that does the job in the most efficient manner. Though the major accolades are given to the individual who solves a particular problem first, credit (and gratitude) always goes to those who subsequently find a simpler solution.” FirstsDoeProblemJobsIndividualGivenGoalPiecesParticularGratitudeMajorsSolutionsUltimateMathematicsMethodAssumingSimplicityCreditSolveAdmireEfficientMathematicianObserversEleganceUltimate GoalAccolades Author:Keith Devlin
“Building intelligent machines can teach us about our minds - about who we are - and those lessons will make our world a better place. To win that knowledge, though, our species will have to trade in another piece of its vanity.” WorldMindScienceWinningTeachPiecesBuildingLessonsMachinesIntelligentMathematicsTradeSpeciesVanityWho We AreOur WorldBetter PlaceIntelligent Machines Author:Astro Teller
“In terms of it being a first screenplay, literally, my hat is off to him [Wally Pfister]. I didn't see any virgin blather in screen direction, or anything like that. It was just a wonderfully executed piece, and a complicated one. The mathematics involved in putting this film together, between Jack and Wally, and the great support of Alcon, it was not a easy little operetta.” FirstsLittlesTogetherFilmEasyTermSupportPiecesInvolvedMathematicsComplicatedScreensHatsVirginsScreenplaysBlather Author:Johnny Depp