• Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics, I assure you that mine are greater.
  (Albert Einstein, physicist).


• We are servants rather than masters in mathematics.
  (Charles Hermite, mathematician).


• In precisely built mathematical structures, mathematicians find the same sort of beauty others find in enchanting pieces of music, or in magnificent architecture. There is, however, one great difference between the beauty of mathematical structures and that of great art. Music by Mozart, for instance, impresses greatly even those who do not know musical theory; the cathedral in Cologne overwhelms spectators even if they know nothing about Christianity.
  The beauty in mathematical structures, however, cannot be appreciated without understanding of a group of numerical formulae that express laws of logic. Only mathematicians can read "musical scores" containing many numerical formulae, and play that "music" in their hearts. Accordingly, I once believed that without numerical formulae, I could never communicate the sweet melody played in my heart.
  Stochastic differential equations, called "Ito Formula," are currently in wide use for describing phenomena of random fluctuations over time. When I first set forth stochastic differential equations, however, my paper did not attract attention. It was over ten years after my paper that other mathematicians began reading my "musical scores" and playing my "music" with their "instruments." By developing my "original musical scores" into more elaborate "music," these researchers have contributed greatly to developing "Ito Formula."
  (Kiyosi Ito, mathematician).


• The greatest mathematicians, as Archimedes, Newton, and Gauss, always united theory and applications in equal measure.
  (Felix Klein, mathematician).


• It is impossible to be a mathematician without being a poet in soul.
  (Sofia Kovalevskaya, mathematician).


• Mind that when we speak of scientific problems you are completely free to tell me that I am mistaken, because we are equal in front of science.
  (Mauro Picone, professor of mathematical analysis in Rome, answering to his student Ennio De Giorgi).


• In mathematics you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
  (J. Von Neumann, mathematician).
  


• It is true that a mathematician who is not also something of a poet will never be a perfect mathematician.
  (Karl Weierstrass, mathematician).
  

Last update: Sat May 31 10:20:03 2014