---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The mathematicians of this world regard…"
description: "\"The mathematicians of this world regard themselves as 'physicists,' yet they know next to nothing about Physics.\" — Bill Gaede"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/bill-gaede-20559_knows_the-mathematicians-of-this-world-regard_2560030.jpg"
---

#  The mathematicians of this world regard themselves as…

![“The mathematicians of this world regard themselves as 'physicists,' yet they know next to nothing about Physics.” quote by Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/bill-gaede-20559_knows_the-mathematicians-of-this-world-regard_2560030.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/bill-gaede-20559_knows_the-mathematicians-of-this-world-regard_2560030.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/bill-gaede-20559_knows_the-mathematicians-of-this-world-regard_2560030.jpg)

> “The mathematicians of this world regard themselves as 'physicists,' yet they know next to nothing about Physics.”

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Mathematicians claim physicist identity but lack deep physics knowledge, highlighting disciplinary gaps.

**In simple terms:** Mathematicians call themselves physicists but know little physics.

Key Takeaway

Bridge gaps between math and physics.

Themes

discipline identity knowledge expertise

Mood

critical analytical

Type

academic professional

When to use this quote

- academic curricula
- research collaboration
- career counseling

Key Concepts

interdisciplinary study epistemology professional identity

Questions to Reflect On

- How can fields collaborate better?
- What defines true expertise?

A Different Perspective

Risk of misrepresenting expertise.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Mathematician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematician/) [Mathematicians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematicians/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Physicists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physicists/) [Physics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physics/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/)

## Related quotes

> [We physicists know that the brain is a milliwatt transmitter of radio. We have computers that can decipher much of this gibberish coming from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/we-physicists-know-that-the-brain-is-a-milliwatt-transmitter-of-radio/)

[Michio Kaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kaku/)

> [The mathematicians know a great deal about very little and the physicists very little about a great deal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-ulam/the-mathematicians-know-a-great-deal-about-very-little-and-the/)

[Stanislaw Ulam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-ulam/)

> [Mathematicians also make terrible salesmen. Physicists can discover the same thing as a mathematician and say 'We've discovered a great new law of nature.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/mathematicians-also-make-terrible-salesmen-physicists-can-discover/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

> [Whenever I want to represent or depict the official version, I will refer to them as 'mathematicians' or 'mathematical physicists' or idiots or something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/whenever-i-want-to-represent-or-depict-the-official-version-i-will/)

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

> [Today, all physicists know from studying Einstein and Bohr that sometimes an idea which looks completely paradoxical at first, if analyzed to completion in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-p-feynman/today-all-physicists-know-from-studying-einstein-and-bohr-that/)

[Richard P. Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-p-feynman/)

> [Physicists are more like avant-garde composers, willing to bend traditional rules... Mathematicians are more like classical composers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-greene/physicists-are-more-like-avant-garde-composers-willing-to-bend/)

[Brian Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-greene/)

> [Physicists and mathematicians regularly invade other fields but other fields do not invade theirs so we can see which fields are hardest for very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominic-cummings/physicists-and-mathematicians-regularly-invade-other-fields-but-other/)

[Dominic Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominic-cummings/)

> [The idea would be in my mind - and I know it sounds strange - is that the most important advances in medicine would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-soon-shiong/the-idea-would-be-in-my-mind-and-i-know-it-sounds-strange-is-that-the/)

[Patrick Soon-Shiong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-soon-shiong/)

> [The chemists work with inaccurate and poor measuring services, but they employ very good materials. The physicists, on the other hand, use excellent methods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-ostwald/the-chemists-work-with-inaccurate-and-poor-measuring-services-but/)

[Wolfgang Ostwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-ostwald/)

> [By having simplified what is known, physicists have been led into realms which as yet are anything but simple. That at some time, they,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-teller/by-having-simplified-what-is-known-physicists-have-been-led-into/)

[Edward Teller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-teller/)

> [ \[on what characteristics Nobel prize winning physicists had in common\] I cannot think of a single one, not even intelligence. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrico-fermi/on-what-characteristics-nobel-prize-winning-physicists-had-in-common/)

[Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/)

> [In the good old days physicists repeated each other's experiments, just to be sure. Today they stick to FORTRAN, so that they can share…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edsger-dijkstra/in-the-good-old-days-physicists-repeated-each-other-s-experiments/)

[Edsger Dijkstra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edsger-dijkstra/)

> [Physicists have yet to understand why the Higgs boson's mass is what it is,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-randall/physicists-have-yet-to-understand-why-the-higgs-boson-s-mass-is-what/)

[Lisa Randall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-randall/)

> [All professionals, whether physicists, economists or musicians, live by and for peer judgment, even when they are being paid by people who cannot tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/all-professionals-whether-physicists-economists-or-musicians-live-by/)

[Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/)

> [Physicists analyse systems. Web scientists, however, can create the systems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-berners-lee/physicists-analyse-systems-web-scientists-however-can-create-the/)

[Tim Berners-Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-berners-lee/)

## More by Bill Gaede

> [“A geneticist is a geek who claims to have proven through regression analyses that a Neanderthal had sex with your great-grandmother 50,000 years ago.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/a-geneticist-is-a-geek-who-claims-to-have-proven-through-regression/)

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

> [Science is not about making predictions or performing experiments. Science is about explaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/science-is-not-about-making-predictions-or-performing-experiments/)

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

> [For youth, sexual love is whim; for the aged, luxury.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/for-youth-sexual-love-is-whim-for-the-aged-luxury/)

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

> [Atheism is the opium of the mathematicians. Atheism is the religion of Mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/atheism-is-the-opium-of-the-mathematicians-atheism-is-the-religion-of/)

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

> [Man steps on an ant when he can't catch the fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/man-steps-on-an-ant-when-he-can-t-catch-the-fly/)

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

> [A mathematician makes plans to travel backwards in time through a wormhole to a parallel universe when he can't even make it to Mars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/a-mathematician-makes-plans-to-travel-backwards-in-time-through-a/)

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

> [The mathematicians are the priests of the modern world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/the-mathematicians-are-the-priests-of-the-modern-world/)

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

> [A mathematician is an individual who believes that prophesying that his dog will die if he deprives it of food constitutes a prediction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/a-mathematician-is-an-individual-who-believes-that-prophesying-that/)

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

> [Today, the rich are the haves and the poor are the have-nots. Tomorrow, the rich will be the have-food and the poor will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/today-the-rich-are-the-haves-and-the-poor-are-the-have-nots-tomorrow/)

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

> [It is the definition of the word 'object' which destroys all religions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/it-is-the-definition-of-the-word-object-which-destroys-all-religions/)

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

> [A relativist is an individual who doesn't know the difference between an adjective and an adverb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/a-relativist-is-an-individual-who-doesn-t-know-the-difference-between/)

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

> [Extinction catches Man by surprise because no one can even imagine that such a catastrophe can happen to an intelligent species.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/extinction-catches-man-by-surprise-because-no-one-can-even-imagine/)

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

> [If you can't illustrate 'it', 'it' doens't belong in Physics as a noun! You can't put an article in front. You can't put a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/if-you-can-t-illustrate-it-it-doens-t-belong-in-physics-as-a-noun-you/)

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

> [A mathematician is an individual who calls himself a 'physicist' and does 'physics' and physical experiments with abstract concepts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/a-mathematician-is-an-individual-who-calls-himself-a-physicist-and/)

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

> [Whereas a novice makes moves until he gets checkmated (proof), a Grand Master realizes 20 moves in advance that it’s futile to continue playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/whereas-a-novice-makes-moves-until-he-gets-checkmated-proof-a-grand/)

[Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

[Explore all 30 Bill Gaede quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/)

## More Knows quotes

> [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/)

[Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/)

> [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-think-here-s-what-i-ve-realized-from-interviewing-people-and-i-ve/)

[Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/)

> [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/)

[Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/)

> [You've touched people and known it. You've touched people and never may know it. Either way, you have something to give. It is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-schlessinger/you-ve-touched-people-and-known-it-you-ve-touched-people-and-never/)

[Laura Schlessinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-schlessinger/)

> [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/)

[Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/)

> [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/)

[William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/)

> [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/)

[Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/)

> [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/)

[Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/)

> [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/)

[Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/)

> [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/)

[Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/)

> [As a child, I had a lot of older gay men taking care of me. There's a trust there. I feel like little girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/as-a-child-i-had-a-lot-of-older-gay-men-taking-care-of-me-there-s-a/)

[Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/)

> [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/)

[Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/)

> [He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-who-knows-does-not-speak-he-who-speaks-does-not-know/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I did not know that the planning for biological and chemical warfare was so widespread in England, and even in France before France fell.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-did-not-know-that-the-planning-for-biological-and-chemical-warfare/)

[Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/)

Browse all 53,133 Knows quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "The mathematicians of this world regard themselves as 'physicists,' yet they know next to nothing about Physics.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Bill Gaede"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/the-mathematicians-of-this-world-regard-themselves-as-physicists-yet/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Knows"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/the-mathematicians-of-this-world-regard-themselves-as-physicists-yet/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/bill-gaede-20559_knows_the-mathematicians-of-this-world-regard_2560030.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/bill-gaede-20559_knows_the-mathematicians-of-this-world-regard_2560030.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/bill-gaede-20559_knows_the-mathematicians-of-this-world-regard_2560030.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The mathematicians of this world regard themselves as 'physicists,' yet they know next to nothing about…” — Bill Gaede",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Bill Gaede",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "The mathematicians of this world regard...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/the-mathematicians-of-this-world-regard-themselves-as-physicists-yet/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/the-mathematicians-of-this-world-regard-themselves-as-physicists-yet/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
