On Sciences and Technologies
A doctrine of nature can only contain so much science proper as there is in it of applied
mathematics.
—Immanuel Kant, 1786
Mathematics is the queen of the sciences.
—Carl Friedrich Gauss, 1856
The Great Architect of the Universe now begins to appear as a pure mathematician.
—James Jeans, 1930
The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of
the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve.
—Eugene Wigner, 1960
Whether or not you ever again use the math you learned in school, the act of having learned
the math established a wiring in your brain that didn’t exist before, and it’s the wiring in
your brain that makes you a problem solver.
—Neil deGrasse Tyson, 2011
Poor arithmetic will make the bridge fall down just as surely as poor physics, poor
metallurgy, or poor logic will.
—Thomas T. Woodson, 1966
Bridges would not be safer if only people who knew the proper definition of a real number
were allowed to design them.
—David Mermin, 1979
The profound study of nature is the most fertile source of mathematical discoveries.
—Joseph Fourier, 1822
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
K. K. Likharev (ed.), Essential Quotes for Scientists and Engineers,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63332-5_5
41
A doctrine of nature can only contain so much science proper as there is in it of applied
mathematics.
—Immanuel Kant, 1786
Mathematics is the queen of the sciences.
—Carl Friedrich Gauss, 1856
The Great Architect of the Universe now begins to appear as a pure mathematician.
—James Jeans, 1930
The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of
the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve.
—Eugene Wigner, 1960
Whether or not you ever again use the math you learned in school, the act of having learned
the math established a wiring in your brain that didn’t exist before, and it’s the wiring in
your brain that makes you a problem solver.
—Neil deGrasse Tyson, 2011
Poor arithmetic will make the bridge fall down just as surely as poor physics, poor
metallurgy, or poor logic will.
—Thomas T. Woodson, 1966
Bridges would not be safer if only people who knew the proper definition of a real number
were allowed to design them.
—David Mermin, 1979
The profound study of nature is the most fertile source of mathematical discoveries.
—Joseph Fourier, 1822
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
K. K. Likharev (ed.), Essential Quotes for Scientists and Engineers,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63332-5_5
41