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Stanislaw Ulam on Mathematics

1909–1984 Poland

← All quotes by Stanislaw Ulam

8 quotes

Mathematics may be a way of developing physically, that is anatomically, new connections in the brain.

Adventures of a Mathematician - Third Edition (1991)

What exactly is mathematics? Many have tried but nobody has really succeeded in defining mathematics; it is always something else.

Adventures of a Mathematician - Third Edition (1991)

The mathematicians know a great deal about very little and the physicists very little about a great deal.

In mathematics, as in physics, so much depends on chance, on a propitious moment.

Adventures of a Mathematician - Third Edition (1991)

In many cases, mathematics is an escape from reality. The mathematician finds his own monastic niche and happiness in pursuits that are disconnected from external affairs. Some practice it as if using a drug.

Adventures of a Mathematician - Third Edition (1991)

Project Orion
In mathematics, as in physics, so much depends on chance, on a propitious moment.

It was not so much that I was doing mathematics, but rather that mathematics had taken possession of me.

Adventures of a Mathematician - Third Edition (1991)

Do not lose your faith. A mighty fortress is our mathematics. Mathematics will rise to the challenge, as it always has.

Attribution

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