If one were to bring ten of the wisest men in the world together and ask them what was the most stupid thing in existence, they would not be able to discover anything so stupid as astrology.
David HilbertRead
Mathematical science is in my opinion an indivisible whole, an organism whose vitality is conditioned upon the connection of its parts.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Mathematics is an interconnected discipline where all parts rely on each other for vitality.
David Hilbert emphasizes that mathematical science should not be viewed as a mere collection of separate topics, but rather as a cohesive organism. Each part of mathematics is interrelated, and the health of the entire mathematical framework is contingent on the connections and relationships between its various components.
Themes
MathematicsInterconnectednessScienceOrganizationHolism
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about the importance of mathematical education, you can use this quote to emphasize the cohesiveness of math as a discipline.
More from David Hilbert
All quotes βThe art of doing mathematics consists in finding that special case which contains all the germs of generality.
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The further a mathematical theory is developed, the more harmoniously and uniformly does its construction proceed, and unsuspected relations are disclosed between hitherto separated branches of the science.
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Wir mussen wissen. Wir werden wissen. We must know. We will know. Inscribed on his tomb in Gilttingen.
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Mathematics is a game played according to certain simple rules with meaningless marks on paper.
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No one shall expel us from the paradise that Cantor has created for us.
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