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Alfred North Whitehead on Mathematics

1861–1947 England

← All quotes by Alfred North Whitehead

8 quotes

By relieving the brain of all unnecessary work, a good notation sets it free to concentrate on more advanced problems, and in effect increases the mental power of the race.

An Introduction to Mathematics (1911)

The science of pure mathematics, in its modern developments, may claim to be the most original creation of the human spirit.

Science and the Modern World (1925)

Mathematics as an Element in the History of Thought.

Science and the Modern World (1925)

[T]he pursuit of mathematics is a divine madness of the human spirit.

Science and the Modern World (1925)

[A]ll science as it grows towards perfection becomes mathematical in its ideas.

An Introduction to Mathematics (1911)

Nothing is more impressive than the fact that as mathematics withdrew increasingly into the upper regions of ever greater extremes of abstract thought, it returned back to earth with a corresponding growth of importance for the analysis of concrete fact. ...The paradox is now fully established that the utmost abstractions are the true weapons with which to control our thought of concrete fact.

Science and the Modern World (1925)

The ultimate goal of mathematics is to eliminate any need for intelligent thought.

Disputed to Whitehead in A = B (1996)

Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of finitude we are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of human life is to grasp as much as we can out of the infinitude.

Attributed Dialogues of Alfred North Whitehead (1954)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Alfred North Whitehead (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.