Most striking at first is the appearance of sudden illumination, a manifest sign of long unconscious prior work. — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
Often when works at a hard question, nothing good is accomplished at the first attack. Then one takes a rest, long or… — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
Thus, they are free to replace some objects by others so long as the relations remain unchanged. — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
Mathematicians do not deal in objects, but in relations between objects; thus, they are free to replace some objects by others so… — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
For a long time the objects that mathematicians dealt with were mostly ill-defined; one believed one knew them, but one represented them… — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
Mathematicians do not study objects, but relations among objects; they are indifferent to the replacement of objects by others as long the… — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
Thought is only a flash between two long nights, but this flash is everything. — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
The mathematical facts worthy of being studied are those which, by their analogy with other facts, are capable of leading us to… — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
The mathematical facts worthy of being studied are those which, by their analogy with other facts, are capable of leading us to the knowledge… — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
. . . by natural selection our mind has adapted itself to the conditions of the external world. It has adopted the geometry most… — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
If we knew exactly the laws of nature and the situation of the universe at the initial moment, we could predict exactly the situation… — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
Absolute space, that is to say, the mark to which it would be necessary to refer the earth to know whether it really moves,… — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
Absolute space, that is to say, the mark to which it would be necessary to refer the earth to know whether it really moves,… — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
A cat is witty, he has nerve, he knows how to do precisely the right thing at the right moment. — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
In the old days when people invented a new function they had something useful in mind. — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
Mathematics has a threefold purpose. It must provide an instrument for the study of nature. But this is not all: it has a philosophical… — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
