In the Middle Age, in Germany, if you wanted to learn addition and multiplication, you could go to any university. But if you wanted to learn division, you could only do it in one place, Heidelberg. This makes sense, since… — Israel Gelfand Copy Share Image
I used to say: "Everything is Representation Theory". Now I say: "Nothing is Representation Theory". — Israel Gelfand Copy Share Image
They have the idea that non-commutative algebra should remind one of commutative algebra, but the former is more sophisticated. I believe that non-commutative algebra… — Israel Gelfand Copy Share Image
The older I get, the more I believe that at the bottom of most deep mathematical problems there is a combinatorial problem. — Israel Gelfand Copy Share Image
In the Middle Age, in Germany, if you wanted to learn addition and multiplication, you could go to any university. But if you wanted… — Israel Gelfand Copy Share Image
Eugene Wigner wrote a famous essay on the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in natural sciences. He meant physics, of course. There is only one… — Israel Gelfand Copy Share Image
One of the reasons we don't do as well as we should is that we are all over-taught. — Israel Gelfand Copy Share Image
People think they don’t understand math, but it’s all about how you explain it to them. If you ask a drunkard what number is… — Israel Gelfand Copy Share Image
I used to say: "Everything is Representation Theory". Now I say: "Nothing is Representation Theory". — Israel Gelfand Copy Share Image
People (or students) do not have shortcomings, only uniquenesses. The goal of a good teacher is to turn these uniquenesses into advantages. — Israel Gelfand Copy Share Image
My life may be encapsulated by one of Graham Greene's "entertainments" titles: 'Loser Takes All'. Since I was thrown out of highschool for political… — Israel Gelfand Copy Share Image
My seminar is for highschool students, decent undergraduates, bright graduates, and outstanding professors. — Israel Gelfand Copy Share Image
... The approach of von Neumann and Connes to the use of non-commutative algebra in physics is naive, the situation is much more complicated. — Israel Gelfand Copy Share Image
