“Mathematics is the source of a wicked intellect that, while making man the lord of the earth, also makes him the slave of the machine.” MenEarthLordSourceMachinesMathematicsSlaveIntellectWicked Book:the Man Without Qualities Source: the Man Without Qualities
“Like musicians who can read and write complicated scores in a world without sounds, for us mathematics is a source of delight, excitement, and even controversy which are hard to share with non mathematicians. In our small micro-cosmos we should ever seek the right balance between competition and solidarity, criticism and empathy, exclusion and inclusion.” WorldShouldWritingHardScienceSoundShareSourceBalanceMusicianEmpathyCriticismMathematicsCompetitionDelightComplicatedExcitementScoreCosmosInclusionMathematicianSolidarityControversyExclusion Author:Gil Kalai
“... there are those who believe that mathematics can sustain itself and grow without any further contact with anything outside itself, and those who believe that nature is still and always will be one of the main (if not the main) sources of mathematical inspiration. The first group is identified as "pure mathematicians" (though "purist" would be more adequate) while the second is, with equal inadequacy, referred to as "applied".” IfsFirstsBelieveStillsInspirationWould BeGrowsGroupsSourcePureEqualMathematicsContactMathematicalMathematicianAdequateInadequacy Author:Mark Kac
“When a branch of mathematics ceases to interest any but the specialists, it is very near its death, or at any rate dangerously close to a paralysis, from which it can be rescued only by being plunged back into the vivifying source of the science.” InterestSourceMathematicsRateCeaseBranchesSpecialistsParalysis Author:Andre Weil