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Josiah Willard Gibbs Quotes

1839–1903 United States

Josiah Willard Gibbs (February 11 1839 – April 28 1903) was an American theoretical physicist, chemist and mathematician. One of the greatest American scientists of all time, he devised much of the theoretical foundation for chemical thermodynamics, as well as physical chemistry and statistical mechanics.

United States
Chemists
Mathematicians
Physicists

Also known as: J. Willard Gibbs

Random Josiah Willard Gibbs quote

9 quotes

His true monument lies not on the shelves of libraries, but in the thoughts of men, and in the history of more than one science.

One of the principal objects of theoretical research is to find the point of view from which the subject appears in the greatest simplicity.

One of the principal objects of research in my department of knowledge is to find the point of view from which the subject appears in the greatest simplicity.

We avoid the gravest difficulties when, giving up the attempt to frame hypotheses concerning the constitution of matter, we pursue statistical inquiries as a branch of rational mechanics.

If I have had any success in mathematical physics, it is, I think, because I have been able to dodge mathematical difficulties.

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Anyone having these desires will make these researches.

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A mathematician may say anything he pleases, but a physicist must be at least partially sane.

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The whole is simpler than its parts.

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Mathematics is a language.

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Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Josiah Willard Gibbs (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.