On Mathematics and Mathematicians

ON MATHEMATICS AND MATHEMATICIANS Formerly titled Memorabilia Mathematica or the Philomathss Quotation-Book By Robert Edouard Moritz. Originally published in 1914. PREFACE: EVERY one knows that the fine phrase God geometrizes is attributed to Plato, but few know where this famous passage is found, or the exact words in which it was first expressed. Those who, like the author, have spent hours and even days in the search of the exact statements, or the exact references, of similar famous passages, will not question the timeliness and usefulness of a book whose distinct purpose it is to bring together into a single volume exact quotations, with their exact references, bearing on one of the most time-honored, and even today the most active and most fruitful of all the sciences, the queen mother of all the sciences, that is, mathematics. It is hoped that the present volume will prove indispensable to every teacher of mathematics, to every writer on mathe matics, and that the student of mathematics and the related sciences will find its perusal not only a source of pleasure but of encouragement and inspiration as well. The layman will find it a repository of useful information covering a field of knowledge which, owing to the unfamiliar and hence repellant character of the language employed by mathematicians, is peculiarly in accessible to the general reader. No technical processes or technical facility is required to understand and appreciate the wealth of ideas here set forth in the words of the worlds great thinkers. No labor has been spared to make the present volume worthy of a place among collections of a like kind in other fields. Ten years have been devoted to its preparation, years, which if they could have been more profitably, could scarcely have been more pleasurably employed. As a result there have been brought together over one thousand more or less familiar passages pertaining to mathematics, by poets, philosophers, historians, statesmen, scientists, and mathematicians. These have been gathered from over three hundred authors, and have been grouped under twenty heads, and cross indexed under nearly seven hundred topics. The authors original plan was to give foreign quotations both in the original and in translation, but with the growth of mate rial this plan was abandoned as infeasible. It was thought to serve the best interest of the greater number of English readers to give translations only, while preserving the references to the original sources, so that the student or critical reader may readily consult the original of any given extract. In cases where the translation is borrowed the translators name is inserted in brackets immediately after the authors name. Brackets are also used to indicate inserted words or phrases made necessary to bring out the context. The absence of similar English works has made the authors work largely that of the pioneer. Rebi res Math6matiques et Math naticiens and Ahrens Scherz und Ernst in der Mathematik have indeed been frequently consulted but rather with a view to avoid overlapping than to receive aid. Thus certain topics as the correspondence of German and French mathematicians, so excellently treated by Ahrens, have pur posely been omitted. The repetitions are limited to a small number of famous utterances whose absence from a work of this kind could scarcely be defended on any grounds. No one can be more keenly aware of the shortcomings of a work than its author, for none can have so intimate an acquaint ance with it...