One of the biggest problems of mathematics is to explain to everyone else what it is all about. The technical trappings of the subject, its symbolism and formality, its baffling terminology, its apparent delight in lengthy calculations: these tend to… — Ian Stewart Copy Share Image
To criticize mathematics for its abstraction is to miss the point entirely. Abstraction is what makes mathematics work. If you concentrate too closely on too limited an application of a mathematical idea, you rob the mathematician of his most important… — Ian Stewart Copy Share Image
“There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary numerals, and those who don't.” — Ian Stewart Copy Share Image
If our brains were simple enough for us to understand them, we'd be so simple that we couldn't. — Ian Stewart Copy Share Image
Our teaching of mathematics revolves around a fundamental conflict. Rightly or wrongly, students are required to master a series of mathematical concepts and techniques,… — Ian Stewart Copy Share Image
Mathematics is the science of patterns, and nature exploits just about every pattern that there is. — Ian Stewart Copy Share Image
Two centuries ago Carl Friedrich Gauss, one of the greatest mathematicians and a founder of number theory, described his brainchild as "the queen of… — Ian Stewart Copy Share Image
“Only three constants are significant for star formation: the gravitational constant, the fine structure constant, and a constant that governs nuclear reaction rates.” — Ian Stewart Copy Share Image
Religion hinges upon faith, politics hinges upon who can tell the most convincing lies or maybe just shout the loudest, but science hinges upon… — Ian Stewart Copy Share Image
During the past fifty years, more mathematics has been created than in all previous ages put together. — Ian Stewart Copy Share Image
The flapping of a single butterfly's wing today produces a tiny change in the state of the atmosphere. Over a period of time, what… — Ian Stewart Copy Share Image
