No more than these machines need the mathematician know what he does. — Henri Poincare Copy Share Image
Thus, be it understood, to demonstrate a theorem, it is neither necessary nor even advantageous to know what it means. The geometer might be replaced by the "logic piano" imagined by Stanley Jevons; or, if you choose, a machine might… — 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
