PPT Slide
“The combinations that can be formed with numbers and symbols are an infinite multitude. In this thicket how shall we choose those that are worthy of our attention? Shall we be guided only by whimsy…..
[This] would undoubtedly carry us far from each other, and we would rapidly cease to understand each other. But that is only the minor side of the problem. Not only will physics perhaps prevent us from getting lost, but it will alsoprotect us from a more fearsome danger ….turning around forever in circles. History [shows that] physics has not only forced us to choose [from the multitude of problems which arise], but it has also imposed on us directions that would never have been dreamed of otherwise….What could be more useful!”
at the first international congress of mathematicians
“The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in physics.”
“The Lord is subtle but not malicious.”