Abstract
A doctrine of nature can only contain so much science proper as there is in it of applied mathematics.
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Notes
- 1.
As quoted, without a date, by J. B. Birks in 1962.
- 2.
From his article Theoretical Zipperdynamics, signed by pen name Harry J. Zipkin, and published in the famous Journal of Irreproducible Results. (Lipkin was one of its founders.).
- 3.
To the so-called Schrödinger Cat paradox of quantum mechanics.
- 4.
J. Bell’s opinion about the famous Einstein-Bohr debate (see the previous two quotes) is important, because he is widely credited for the last significant theoretical contribution to this topic (now called the local reality problem), made in the 1960s – even if some physicists still deem the problem not fully solved.
- 5.
As quoted, without a date, by Albert Rosenfeld in 1962.
- 6.
As quoted, without a date, by J. R. Partington in 1961.
- 7.
As quoted, without a date, by R. Oesper in 1975.
- 8.
To estimate this semi-joke, note that the author (of the Landolt-Börnstein database fame) was one of the pioneers of physical chemistry.
- 9.
Posted (in the 1960s) on his office door, signed Albert Einstein, as a joke, provoking quite a few misattributions.
- 10.
Cf. the Ehrenfest theorem in quantum mechanics, infamous for its lack of insight into many key quantum effects including entanglement.
- 11.
Misattributed to many, including Benjamin Disraeli and Mark Twain.
- 12.
Possibly based on an earlier (circa 1986) but longer line by Hal Abelson. A close paraphrase of this maxim is frequently misattributed to Edsger W. Dijkstra.
- 13.
This popular remark is attributed to various scientists, most plausibly to Hal Abelson and Frank Harary, but I could not find a reliable confirmation of either authorship.
- 14.
“Plurality [of reasons] should not be postulated without necessity” (Lat. “Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate”) by William of Ockham. This principle is widely misquoted as “Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily”.
- 15.
Unfortunately, I could not identify this author.
- 16.
As quoted, without a date, by David K. Mellinger in 1991.
- 17.
First quoted by his son, George W. Pugh, in 1977.
- 18.
Cf. the expression “Space, the final frontier” used in the Star Trek movies.
- 19.
As quoted, without a date, in an editorial of The Veterinarian in 1851; frequently misattributed to Voltaire.
- 20.
As quoted, without a date, by many, possibly starting with Joseph Ennemoser and Mary Botham Howitt in 1854.
- 21.
As quoted by A. Szent-Gyorgyi in 1976; paraphrased, after O. Loewi’s death in 1961, by others—mostly without a reference.
- 22.
Essentially, a succinct version of an earlier (circa 1449) line by John Lydgate.
- 23.
As quoted, without a date, by William Fitzgibbon in 1972.
- 24.
As quoted, without a date, by many, starting perhaps with Thomas Szasz in 1976.
- 25.
As attributed in 1948; it is suspected that Lillian Hellman was the real author.
- 26.
Frequently misattributed to John Kenneth Galbraith.
- 27.
Frequently misattributed to George Bernard Shaw.
- 28.
Published as an anonymous joke by H. L. Mencken in 1942. It might be based on a similar statement (about the term “equity”) by Charles Bowen, quoted in 1911 by John Alderson Foote.
- 29.
I could not find a reliable confirmation of the authorship of another famous aphorism on this subject, sometimes attributed to R. Feynman and sometimes to S. Weinberg: “The philosophy of science is as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds.” (The same is frequently said about the value of aesthetics for arts).
- 30.
As a member of the natural science community, I am grateful for author’s high opinion of it, but cannot help noticing that some of its dwarfish members use their elevated positions to relieve themselves on the heads of their predecessors.
- 31.
As quoted in 1996 by R. V. Jones, to whom this advice was given.
- 32.
This was about his Difference Engine No. 1—essentially the first computer.
- 33.
This elegant twist of the term First-In, First-Out (FIFO) register has turned into a major principle of computer applications. Created in the mid-1950s, it is typically attributed to either Stephen Wilfred (“Wilf”) Hey or E. E. Blanche, but I could not reliably confirm these authorships and even identify these persons.
- 34.
With the ongoing development of autonomous (computer-driven) cars, the last goal seems within reach.
- 35.
As quoted, without a date, by Murali Chemuturi in 2010.
- 36.
This was apparently written in 1992 about AutoCAD rev. 12. In comparison with that program, most software packages I have to use nowadays are hardware-resource-wasting junk.
- 37.
I have seen this statement attributed to some Stephen Wolfe, but I was unable to confirm this authorship.
- 38.
Note that L. Wall has himself created one of the languages (Perl), and did not exclude it from this rule.
- 39.
Sometimes also attributed to the same Larry Wall, but I could not find a reliable confirmation of his authorship.
- 40.
I find it remarkable how well some old wisdoms work in new contexts – in this case, of the computer operation system development.
- 41.
Ridiculing the artificial intelligence hopes of his time.
- 42.
The original suggestion of what is now called the Turing Test.
- 43.
Note that both these thresholds were reached at least 5 years before the supposed date.
- 44.
In his earlier (1987) book, Vinge defined the Singularity as the hypothetical point of “creation of intelligences greater than our own”. (Several earlier authors, starting at least from John von Neumann, are credited for similar notions, under different names. The Singularity term has received an additional strong promotion from a 2005 book by Ray Kurzweil.).
- 45.
Hinton is one of the pioneers of the current revolution in deep learning (DL)—a machine learning technique frequently oversold as artificial intelligence (AI). Actually, the DL is currently limited to pattern classification, not explicitly addressing general AI tasks—the main goal of the conventional, symbolic approaches to AI, snubbed by Hinton. (To be fair, these approaches, indeed, are not showing a nearly fast progress, while their proponents, in turn, frequently snub neural-network techniques such as DL as primitive connectionist models.) More generally, I am sorry for finding too few suitable quotes on these topics, which I believe are of paramount importance for our civilization.
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Likharev, K.K. (2021). On Sciences and Technologies. In: Likharev, K.K. (eds) Essential Quotes for Scientists and Engineers. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63332-5_5
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