--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The way in which mathematicians and…" description: "\"The way in which mathematicians and physicists and historians talk is quite different, and what a physicist means by physical intuition and what a math..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ba/clifford-geertz-11500_beauty_the-way-in-which-mathematicians-and-phys_193166.png" --- # The way in which mathematicians and physicists and… ![“The way in which mathematicians and physicists and historians talk is quite different, and what a physicist means by physical intuition and what a mathematician means by beauty or elegance are things worth thinking about.” quote by Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ba/clifford-geertz-11500_beauty_the-way-in-which-mathematicians-and-phys_193166.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ba/clifford-geertz-11500_beauty_the-way-in-which-mathematicians-and-phys_193166.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ba/clifford-geertz-11500_beauty_the-way-in-which-mathematicians-and-phys_193166.png) > “The way in which mathematicians and physicists and historians talk is quite different, and what a physicist means by physical intuition and what a mathematician means by beauty or elegance are things worth thinking about.” [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Different disciplines use distinct vocabularies and criteria, shaping how they perceive reality and value concepts like intuition, beauty, and elegance. **In simple terms:** Fields think differently about intuition and beauty. Key Takeaway Recognize and respect disciplinary perspectives. Themes disciplinary differences language valuation intuition beauty Mood curious respectful Type analytical reflective When to use this quote - academic collaboration - interdisciplinary research - teaching - public communication Key Concepts epistemology philosophy of science aesthetics Questions to Reflect On - How can we bridge vocabularies across fields? - What value does each discipline bring to shared problems? A Different Perspective Each field's language can limit cross‑disciplinary understanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different/) [Different Physicist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-physicist-2036497/) [Elegance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elegance/) [Historian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historian/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Intuition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intuition/) [Mathematician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematician/) [Mathematician Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematician-means-2036498/) [Mathematicians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematicians/) [Mathematicians Physicists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematicians-physicists-2036496/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Physicist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physicist/) [Physicists Historians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physicists-historians-2036499/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [The mathematicians of this world regard themselves as 'physicists,' yet they know next to nothing about Physics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/the-mathematicians-of-this-world-regard-themselves-as-physicists-yet/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [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/) > [It is a melancholy experience for a professional mathematician to find himself writing about mathematics. The function of a mathematician is to do something,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-h-hardy/it-is-a-melancholy-experience-for-a-professional-mathematician-to/) [G. H. Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-h-hardy/) > [If there should chance to be any mathematicians who, ignorant in mathematics yet pretending to skill in that science, should dare, upon the authority…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolaus-copernicus/if-there-should-chance-to-be-any-mathematicians-who-ignorant-in/) [Nicolaus Copernicus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolaus-copernicus/) > [Mathematicians, like cows in the dark, all look alike to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/mathematicians-like-cows-in-the-dark-all-look-alike-to-me/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) > [“Lots of people wrote to the magazine to say that Marilyn vos Savant was wrong, even when she explained very carefully why she was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/lots-of-people-wrote-to-the-magazine-to-say-that-marilyn-vos-savant/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [“It was the engineer who determined what problems to investigate, designed the experiments, and defined the assignments for the mathematicians.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-lee-shetterly/it-was-the-engineer-who-determined-what-problems-to-investigate/) [Margot Lee Shetterly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-lee-shetterly/) > [In my experience most mathematicians are intellectually lazy and especially dislike reading experimental papers. He seemed to have very strong biological intuitions but unfortunately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-crick/in-my-experience-most-mathematicians-are-intellectually-lazy-and/) [Francis Crick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-crick/) > [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/) > [Some humans are mathematicians-others aren't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goodall/some-humans-are-mathematicians-others-aren-t/) [Jane Goodall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goodall/) > [As for mathematicians themselves: don't expect too much help. Most of them are too far removed in their ivory towers to take up such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/apostolos-doxiadis/as-for-mathematicians-themselves-don-t-expect-too-much-help-most-of/) [Apostolos Doxiadis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/apostolos-doxiadis/) > [The greatest problem for mathematicians now is probably the Riemann Hypothesis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/the-greatest-problem-for-mathematicians-now-is-probably-the-riemann/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [I like to move among painters, mathematicians, psychologists, people who can tell me something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-woodcock/i-like-to-move-among-painters-mathematicians-psychologists-people-who/) [George Woodcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-woodcock/) > [If enough money is involved and enough people believe that two plus two equals five the media will report the story with a straight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/if-enough-money-is-involved-and-enough-people-believe-that-two-plus/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) ## More by Clifford Geertz > [My instincts are always against people who want to fasten some sort of hegemony onto things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/my-instincts-are-always-against-people-who-want-to-fasten-some-sort/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [One of the most significant facts about humanity may finally be that we all begin with the natural equipment to a live a thousand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/one-of-the-most-significant-facts-about-humanity-may-finally-be-that/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [“One of the most significant facts about us may finally be that we all begin with the natural equipment to live a thousand kinds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/one-of-the-most-significant-facts-about-us-may-finally-be-that-we-all/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [Understanding a people's culture exposes their normalness without reducing their particularity...It renders them accessible: setting them in the frame of their own banalities, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/understanding-a-people-s-culture-exposes-their-normalness-without/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [I think what's known about neurology is still scattered and uncertain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/i-think-what-s-known-about-neurology-is-still-scattered-and-uncertain/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [It's always amusing to look at how something early in the 20th century was written in anthropology and how it's written now. There's been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/it-s-always-amusing-to-look-at-how-something-early-in-the-20th/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [Cultural analysis is intrinsically incomplete. And, worse than that, the more deeply it goes the less complete it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/cultural-analysis-is-intrinsically-incomplete-and-worse-than-that-the/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [What we call our data are really our own constructions of other people’s constructions of what they and their compatriots are up to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/what-we-call-our-data-are-really-our-own-constructions-of-other/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [It may be in the cultural particularities of people — in their oddities — that some of the most instructive revelations of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/it-may-be-in-the-cultural-particularities-of-people-in-their-oddities/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [The point of literary criticism in anthropology is not to replace research, but to find out how it is that we are persuasive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/the-point-of-literary-criticism-in-anthropology-is-not-to-replace/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [“What the ethnographer is in fact faced with—except when (as, of course, he must do) he is pursuing the more automatized routines of data…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/what-the-ethnographer-is-in-fact-faced-with-except-when-as-of-course/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [ \[Culture\] denotes an historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms, by means of which… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/culture-denotes-an-historically-transmitted-pattern-of-meanings/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [Most anthropologists are doing straightforward ethnography, and should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/most-anthropologists-are-doing-straightforward-ethnography-and-should/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [Learning to exist in a world quite different from that which formed you is the condition, these days, of pursuing research you can on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/learning-to-exist-in-a-world-quite-different-from-that-which-formed/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [I have a social philosophy; you have political opinions; he has an ideology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/i-have-a-social-philosophy-you-have-political-opinions-he-has-an/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) [Explore all 58 Clifford Geertz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) ## More Beauty quotes > [We do not want nowadays temples of worship and outward rites and ceremonies. What we really want is an Asram. We want a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/we-do-not-want-nowadays-temples-of-worship-and-outward-rites-and/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [To fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity, and still be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tool/to-fathom-the-power-to-witness-the-beauty-to-bathe-in-the-fountain-to/) [Tool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tool/) > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [“We've all met people who are beautiful on the outside, however, when they open their mouths to speak, they have nothing of substance to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/we-ve-all-met-people-who-are-beautiful-on-the-outside-however-when/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [To me, the beauty of a quilt or a dress lies within the stitches and the thought of the person who made them. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie/to-me-the-beauty-of-a-quilt-or-a-dress-lies-within-the-stitches-and/) [Natalie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie/) > [“do not misunderstand person by beauty You really do not know its real or Mask on dirty thoughts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/do-not-misunderstand-person-by-beauty-you-really-do-not-know-its-real/) [Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [Call her beautiful a million times and she won't believe you. Call her ugly once, and she will never forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tumblr/call-her-beautiful-a-million-times-and-she-won-t-believe-you-call-her/) [Tumblr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tumblr/) > [Time can but make her beauty over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/time-can-but-make-her-beauty-over-again/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/) [Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/) > [“What about you? What do you do?” I needed to ask questions, draw him out. I needed to find out all the information I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-avery-ellison/what-about-you-what-do-you-do-i-needed-to-ask-questions-draw-him-out/) [Kate Avery Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-avery-ellison/) [Browse all 24,662 Beauty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The way in which mathematicians and physicists and historians talk is quite different, and what a physicist means by physical intuition and what a mathematician means by beauty or elegance are things worth thinking about.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Clifford Geertz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/the-way-in-which-mathematicians-and-physicists-and-historians-talk-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beauty" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/the-way-in-which-mathematicians-and-physicists-and-historians-talk-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ba/clifford-geertz-11500_beauty_the-way-in-which-mathematicians-and-phys_193166.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ba/clifford-geertz-11500_beauty_the-way-in-which-mathematicians-and-phys_193166.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ba/clifford-geertz-11500_beauty_the-way-in-which-mathematicians-and-phys_193166.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The way in which mathematicians and physicists and historians talk is quite different, and what a physicist…” — Clifford Geertz", "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": "Clifford Geertz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The way in which mathematicians and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/the-way-in-which-mathematicians-and-physicists-and-historians-talk-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/the-way-in-which-mathematicians-and-physicists-and-historians-talk-is/#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 } } ] } ```