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Henri Poincaré on Mathematics

1854–1912 France

← All quotes by Henri Poincaré

4 quotes

The very possibility of the science of mathematics seems an insoluble contradiction.

Science and Hypothesis (1901)

I think I have already said somewhere that mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.

Science and Method (1908)

Mathematicians do not study objects, but the relations between objects; to them it is a matter of indifference if these objects are replaced by others, provided that the relations do not change. Matter does not engage their attention, they are interested in form alone.

Science and Hypothesis (1901)

All that is not thought is pure nothingness...And yet—strange contradiction for those who believe in time—geologic history shows us that life is only a short episode between two eternities of death, and that, even in this episode, conscious thought has lasted and will last only a moment. Thought is only a gleam in the midst of a long night. But it is this gleam which is everything.

The Value of Science (1905)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Henri Poincaré (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.