--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The imaginaries finally lost their air of…" description: "\"“The imaginaries finally lost their air of impossibility when nineteenth-century mathematicians realized that they're actually perfectly ordinary, law-..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b8/david-stipp-46402_quote_the-imaginaries-finally-lost-their-air-o_1108616.jpg" --- # The imaginaries finally lost their air of impossibility… ![“The imaginaries finally lost their air of impossibility when nineteenth-century mathematicians realized that they're actually perfectly ordinary, law-abiding numerical beings-it's just that they hail from a different dimension. We'll go there later on.” quote by David Stipp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b8/david-stipp-46402_quote_the-imaginaries-finally-lost-their-air-o_1108616.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b8/david-stipp-46402_quote_the-imaginaries-finally-lost-their-air-o_1108616.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b8/david-stipp-46402_quote_the-imaginaries-finally-lost-their-air-o_1108616.jpg) > ““The imaginaries finally lost their air of impossibility when nineteenth-century mathematicians realized that they're actually perfectly ordinary, law-abiding numerical beings-it's just that they hail from a different dimension. We'll go there later on.”” [David Stipp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-stipp/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mathematicians realized that abstract concepts are just ordinary numbers from another perspective, making them less mysterious. **In simple terms:** Abstract math is ordinary numbers from another view. Key Takeaway Embrace new perspectives on complex ideas. Themes science mathematics perspective creativity Mood curious inquisitive Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - teaching - research - public outreach - interdisciplinary collaboration Key Concepts dimensionality ordinary nature conceptual shift Questions to Reflect On - How does changing perspective alter difficulty? - What other 'impossible' ideas become ordinary? A Different Perspective Understanding may still require deep study and time. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Mathematicians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematicians/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) ## Related quotes > [While all societies make their own imaginaries (institutions, laws, traditions, beliefs and behaviors), autonomous societies are those that their members are aware of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-castoriadis/while-all-societies-make-their-own-imaginaries-institutions-laws/) Cornelius Castoriadis > [The way in which mathematicians and physicists and historians talk is quite different, and what a physicist means by physical intuition and what a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/the-way-in-which-mathematicians-and-physicists-and-historians-talk-is/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [Oh these mathematicians make me tired! 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Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-h-hardy/) > [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/) > [In my experience most mathematicians are intellectually lazy and especially dislike reading experimental papers. 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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/) > [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 David Stipp > [“In my view, Euler's tranquil temperament, fairness, and generosity were integral to his greatness as a mathematician and scientist- he was never inclined to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-stipp/in-my-view-euler-s-tranquil-temperament-fairness-and-generosity-were/) [David Stipp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-stipp/) > [“The association of multiplication with vector rotation was one of the geometric interpretation's most important elements because it decisively connected the imaginaries with rotary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-stipp/the-association-of-multiplication-with-vector-rotation-was-one-of-the/) [David Stipp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-stipp/) > [“Now be honest-wouldn't you have expected e^i\*pi to be (a) gibberish aling the lines of "elephant inkpie," or, if it were mathematically meaningful, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-stipp/now-be-honest-wouldn-t-you-have-expected-e-i-pi-to-be-a-gibberish/) [David Stipp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-stipp/) > [“If you were given to thinking of numbers as having human-like qualities, you might picture e^i\*pi as a guru into transcendental meditation who'd achieved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-stipp/if-you-were-given-to-thinking-of-numbers-as-having-human-like/) [David Stipp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-stipp/) > [“The fact that trig functions cyclically output the same numbers as ever larger angles are plugged into them, by the way, explains why endlessly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-stipp/the-fact-that-trig-functions-cyclically-output-the-same-numbers-as/) [David Stipp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-stipp/) > [“By the early 1600s mathematicians had managed to crank out an approximation of pi that was accurate to 35 digits, which is far more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-stipp/by-the-early-1600s-mathematicians-had-managed-to-crank-out-an/) [David Stipp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-stipp/) > [“But just what are imaginary numbers, you may now be asking yourself, and what on earth could it mean to raise e to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-stipp/but-just-what-are-imaginary-numbers-you-may-now-be-asking-yourself/) [David Stipp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-stipp/) [Explore all 8 David Stipp quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-stipp/) ## More Mathematicians quotes > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [As for mathematicians themselves: don't expect too much help. 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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/) > [We need scientists and mathematicians explaining why they are excited about their subjects but also why they are important for solving social problems, informing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-du-sautoy/we-need-scientists-and-mathematicians-explaining-why-they-are-excited/) [Marcus du Sautoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-du-sautoy/) > [I never got a pass mark in math... Just imagine - mathematicians now use my prints to illustrate their books. Funny me consorting with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/i-never-got-a-pass-mark-in-math-just-imagine-mathematicians-now-use/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [Mathematicians seem to have no difficulty in creating new concepts faster than the old ones become well understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-norton-lorenz/mathematicians-seem-to-have-no-difficulty-in-creating-new-concepts/) Edward Norton Lorenz [Browse all 232 Mathematicians quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematicians/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The imaginaries finally lost their air of impossibility when nineteenth-century mathematicians realized that they're actually perfectly ordinary, law-abiding numerical beings-it's just that they hail from a different dimension. 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