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Carl Benjamin Boyer Quotes

1906–1976 United States

Carl Benjamin Boyer (November 3, 1906 – April 26, 1976) was an American historian of sciences, and especially mathematics. He wrote the books History of Analytic Geometry, The History of the Calculus and Its Conceptual Development, A History of Mathematics, and The Rainbow: From Myth to Mathematics.

United States
Mathematicians

Also known as: Carl B. Boyer

Random Carl Benjamin Boyer quote

16 quotes

The Introductio does not boast an impressive number of editions, yet its influence was pervasive.

Ptolemy left in his Optics, the earliest surviving table of angles of refraction from air to water.

The Rainbow: From Myth to Mathematics (1959)

In myth and legend the rainbow has been regarded variously as a harbinger of misfortune and as a sign of good luck.

The Rainbow: From Myth to Mathematics (1959)

But what, after all, are the integers? Everyone thinks that he or she knows, for example, what the number three is — until he or she tries to define or explain it.

Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity (2013)

The conception of the rainbow as a pathway or bridge has been widespread.

The Rainbow: From Myth to Mathematics (1959)

In Swabia and Bavaria saints pass by the rainbow from heaven to earth; while in Polynesia this is the route of the gods themselves.

The Rainbow: From Myth to Mathematics (1959)

Associations of the rainbow and the milky way are frequent.

The Rainbow: From Myth to Mathematics (1959)

A Hebrew belief asserted that if Yahweh lays aside his bow and hangs it in the clouds, this is a sign that his anger has subsided.

The Rainbow: From Myth to Mathematics (1959)

In the Austrian Alps the souls of the righteous are said to ascend the bow to heaven; and in New Zealand the dead chieftains are believed to pass along it to reach their new home.

The Rainbow: From Myth to Mathematics (1959)

In the Greek world mathematics was more closely related to philosophy than to practical affairs, and this kinship has persisted to the present day.

A History of Mathematics (1968)

North American Indians were among those who thought of the rainbow as the Pathway of Souls, an interpretation found in many other places.

The Rainbow: From Myth to Mathematics (1959)

By many, a rainbow appearing at the birth of a child is taken to be a favorable sign; but in Slavonic accounts a glance from the fay who sits at the foot of the rainbow, combing herself, brings death.

The Rainbow: From Myth to Mathematics (1959)

Robert Grosseteste … was born at the decisive moment when Greek and Arabic science became accessible in Latin versions.

The Rainbow: From Myth to Mathematics (1959)

The fundamental definitions of the calculus, those of the derivative and integral, are now so clearly stated in textbooks on the subject... that it is easy to forget the difficulty with which these basic concepts have been developed.

Carl B. Boyer The History of the Calculus and Its Conceptual Development (1949)

Descartes maintained his confidence in the instantaneity of light. … Yet in his derivation of the law of refraction, Descartes reasoned that light travelled faster in a dense medium than in one less dense. He seems to have had no qualms about comparing infinite magnitudes!

The Rainbow: From Myth to Mathematics (1959)

Perhaps nowhere does one find a better example of the value of historical knowledge for mathematicians than in the case of Fermat, for it is safe to say that, had he not been intimately acquainted with the geometry of Apollonius and Viéte, he would not have invented analytic geometry.

History of Analytic Geometry (1956)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Carl Benjamin Boyer (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.