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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Mathematics reveals deeper connections as it develops further.
David Hilbert suggests that as mathematical theories advance, they tend to become more coherent and interconnected, unveiling unexpected relationships between different areas of mathematics. This reflects the inherent unity of mathematical concepts and the way that progress in one domain can illuminate understanding in another.
Themes
MathematicsTheoryRelationsDevelopmentScience
In practice
Example use cases
A mathematician might use this quote to inspire students at a seminar about the beauty of mathematical connections.
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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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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Mathematical science is in my opinion an indivisible whole, an organism whose vitality is conditioned upon the connection of its parts.
David HilbertRead
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