Poincaré [was] the last man to take practically all mathematics, pure and applied, as his province. ... Few mathematicians have had the breadth of philosophic vision that Poincaré had, and none in his superior in the gift of clear exposition. — Eric Temple Bell Copy Share Image
The full impact of the Lobachevskian method of challenging axioms has probably yet to be felt. It is no exaggeration to call Lobachevsky the… — Eric Temple Bell Copy Share Image
Wherever groups disclosed themselves, or could be introduced, simplicity crystallized out of comparative chaos. — Eric Temple Bell Copy Share Image
Even stranger things have happened; and perhaps the strangest of all is the marvel that mathematics should be possible to a race akin to… — Eric Temple Bell Copy Share Image
[As a young teenager] Galois read [Legendre's] geometry from cover to cover as easily as other boys read a pirate yarn. — Eric Temple Bell Copy Share Image
Poincaré [was] the last man to take practically all mathematics, pure and applied, as his province. ... Few mathematicians have had the breadth of… — Eric Temple Bell Copy Share Image
The very basis of creative work is irreverence! The very basis of creative work is bold experimentation. There has never been a creator of… — Eric Temple Bell Copy Share Image
If a lunatic scribbles a jumble of mathematical symbols it does not follow that the writing means anything merely because to the inexpert eye… — Eric Temple Bell Copy Share Image
If "Number rules the universe" as Pythagoras asserted, Number is merely our delegate to the throne, for we rule Number. — Eric Temple Bell Copy Share Image
Any impatient student of mathematics or science or engineering who is irked by having algebraic symbolism thrust upon him should try to get along… — Eric Temple Bell Copy Share Image
Archimedes, Newton, and Gauss, these three, are in a class by themselves among the great mathematicians, and it is not for ordinary mortals to… — Eric Temple Bell Copy Share Image
Had Poincaré been as strong in practical science as he was in theoretical he might have made a fourth with the incomparable three, Archimedes,… — Eric Temple Bell Copy Share Image
Pick the assumptions to pieces till the stuff they are made of is exposed to plain view - this is the cardinal rule for… — Eric Temple Bell Copy Share Image