“The effects of heat are subject to constant laws which cannot be discovered without the aid of mathematical analysis. The object of the theory is to demonstrate these laws; it reduces all physical researches on the propagation of heat, to problems of the integral calculus, whose elements are given by experiment. No subject has more extensive relations with the progress of industry and the natural sciences; for the action of heat is always present, it influences the processes of the arts, and occurs in all the phenomena of the universe.” ArtProblemActionLawUniverseGivenProcessNaturalProgressInfluenceSubjectsEffectsObjectsTheoryIndustryElementsResearchRelationConstantAidsExperimentsMathematicalAnalysisHeatCalculusNatural SciencePropagationMathematical AnalysisIntegral Calculus Author:Joseph Fourier
“Nothing can be more fatal to progress than a too confident reliance on mathematical symbols; for the student is only too apt to take the easier course, and consider the formula not the fact as the physical reality.” FactsRealityCoursesProgressStudentsEasierSymbolsMathematicalFormulasReliance Author:Lord Kelvin