Henri Poincare
Henri Poincare
Jules Henri Poincaréwas a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and a philosopher of science. He is often described as a polymath, and in mathematics as The Last Universalist by Eric Temple Bell, since he excelled in all fields of the discipline as it existed during his lifetime...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionMathematician
Date of Birth29 April 1854
CountryFrance
discovery generations spontaneity
Mathematical discoveries, small or great are never born of spontaneous generation.
creativity mind use
The mind uses its faculty for creativity only when experience forces it to do so.
observation draws observers
In one word, to draw the rule from experience, one must generalize; this is a necessity that imposes itself on the most circumspect observer.
nature philosophical purpose
Mathematics has a threefold purpose. It must provide an instrument for the study of nature. But this is not all: it has a philosophical purpose, and, I daresay, an aesthetic purpose.
science intuition hunches
It is through science that we prove, but through intuition that we discover.
mathematics geometry theorems
One geometry cannot be more true than another; it can only be more convenient.
beautiful nature knowing
If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living
two together progress
All great progress takes place when two sciences come together, and when their resemblance proclaims itself, despite the apparent disparity of their substance.
absolute-certainty certainty foreseeing
It is far better to foresee even without certainty than not to foresee at all.
eye past thinking
The advance of science is not comparable to the changes of a city, where old edifices are pitilessly torn down to give place to new, but to the continuous evolution of zoologic types which develop ceaselessly and end by becoming unrecognisable to the common sight, but where an expert eye finds always traces of the prior work of the centuries past. One must not think then that the old-fashioned theories have been sterile and vain.
intuition logic mathematics
It is by logic that we prove, but by intuition that we discover. To know how to criticize is good, to know how to create is better.
groups mathematics tales
All of mathematics is a tale about groups.
teaching long important
Mathematicians do not study objects, but relations among objects; they are indifferent to the replacement of objects by others as long the relations don't change. Matter is not important, only form interests them.
believe science reflection
Doubt everything or believe everything: these are two equally convenient strategies. With either we dispense with the need for reflection.