--- title: "1 Generalizing Quotes By Matt Parker" description: "1 Generalizing quotes by Matt Parker. Plus more from Matt Parker and more Generalizing sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/matt-parker-16629_adventure_this-quest-to-take-a-problem-and-see-wha_1614040.jpg" --- > [“This quest to take a problem and see what happens in different situations is called generalizing, and it is this force that drives mathematics forward. Mathematicians constantly want to find solutions and patterns which apply to as many situations as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-parker/this-quest-to-take-a-problem-and-see-what-happens-in-different/) [Matt Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-parker/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/matt-parker-16629_adventure_this-quest-to-take-a-problem-and-see-wha_1614040.jpg) ## More by Matt Parker > [“Along with working on the Basel problem, Euler realized that adding an infinite sequence of reciprocal powers for all whole numbers will give you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-parker/along-with-working-on-the-basel-problem-euler-realized-that-adding-an/) [Matt Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-parker/) > [“I was believing your kind were all dead!' Warvitch bellowed at the minotaur, over the sithkall's choking death growls. 'It will be a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-parker/i-was-believing-your-kind-were-all-dead-warvitch-bellowed-at-the/) [Matt Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-parker/) > [“Despite their ubiquity on the number line, transcendentals are surprisingly hard to pin down. It took until 1873 to prove that e was transcendental,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-parker/despite-their-ubiquity-on-the-number-line-transcendentals-are/) [Matt Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-parker/) > [“The proof in 1882 that pi is a transcendental number put a 2,000 year old problem to rest: for any given circle, can you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-parker/the-proof-in-1882-that-pi-is-a-transcendental-number-put-a-2-000-year/) [Matt Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-parker/) > [“The compact disc may now be outdated technology, but a lot of music albums are still released on CD. A standard 700-megabyte CD is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-parker/the-compact-disc-may-now-be-outdated-technology-but-a-lot-of-music/) [Matt Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-parker/) > [“The zeta function is the sum of an infinite sequence of inverse powers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-parker/the-zeta-function-is-the-sum-of-an-infinite-sequence-of-inverse-powers/) [Matt Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-parker/) > [“At a very rough estimate, the domino computer we built took six hours to set up and run, which means it could do four…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-parker/at-a-very-rough-estimate-the-domino-computer-we-built-took-six-hours/) [Matt Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-parker/) > [“In our current number system, if you multiply 111,111,111 by itself, you get the rather pleasing 12,345,678,987,654,321 (all the digits count up from 1…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-parker/in-our-current-number-system-if-you-multiply-111-111-111-by-itself/) [Matt Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-parker/) > [“Much as it took Lucas to revolutionize the search for Mersennes primes and Lord Kelvin to introduce new ways to look for space-filling-shapes, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-parker/much-as-it-took-lucas-to-revolutionize-the-search-for-mersennes/) [Matt Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-parker/) > [“For DNA to reproduce, it needs to unzip itself down the middle, and the topology of the dna chain dictates which knots are formed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-parker/for-dna-to-reproduce-it-needs-to-unzip-itself-down-the-middle-and-the/) [Matt Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-parker/) > [“To this day, the Clay Mathematics Institute's bounty of $1 million for anyone who can prove that all the non-trivial zeroes of the zeta…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-parker/to-this-day-the-clay-mathematics-institute-s-bounty-of-1-million-for/) [Matt Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-parker/) > [“The Riemann Hypothesis states that all the non-trivial zeroes of the zeta function are on this line. If we can prove the Riemann Hypothesis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-parker/the-riemann-hypothesis-states-that-all-the-non-trivial-zeroes-of-the/) [Matt Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-parker/) > [“I find this whole area of packing problems hugely exciting. Humans know very little about the mathematics of packing objects into spaces. It seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-parker/i-find-this-whole-area-of-packing-problems-hugely-exciting-humans/) [Matt Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-parker/) > [“Golden powers give the Lucas numbers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-parker/golden-powers-give-the-lucas-numbers/) [Matt Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-parker/) > [“For our 2D square, this diagonal length is sqrt 2 = 1.414; …The diagonal from the centre of each padding sphere to the centre…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-parker/for-our-2d-square-this-diagonal-length-is-sqrt-2-1-414-the-diagonal/) [Matt Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-parker/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generalizing/matt-parker/#itemlist", "name": "1 Generalizing Quotes By Matt Parker", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“This quest to take a problem and see what happens in different situations is called generalizing, and it is this force that drives mathematics forward. Mathematicians constantly want to find solutions and patterns which apply to as many situations as possible, i.e. are as general as possible. A maths puzzle is not complete when you merely find an answer, a maths puzzle is complete when you've then tried to generalize it to other situations as well-and minds including Leonard Euler and Lord Kelvin have excelled in mathematics by displaying just this kind of curiosity. Because mathematicians like the puzzles which work on the pure number rather than the symbolic digit and the system we happen to be writing our numbers down in, there is a sense that, when a puzzle works only in one given base, there is something rather, well, 'secind class' about it. Mathematicians do not like things which work only in base-10; it is only because we have ten fingers that we find that system interesting at all. 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