John Edensor Littlewood Quotes About Mathematics

• Before creation, God did just pure mathematics. Then He thought it would be a pleasant change to do some applied.

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Would Be, Creation, Mathematics

• Mathematics is a dangerous profession; an appreciable proportion of us go mad.

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Mad, Mathematics, Proportion

  John Edensor Littlewood, Béla Bollobás (1986). “Littlewood's Miscellany”, p.103, Cambridge University Press

• A Miscellany is a collection without a natual ordering relation.

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Mathematics, Relation, Miscellany

• We come finally, however, to the relation of the ideal theory to real world, or "real" probability. If he is consistent a man of the mathematical school washes his hands of applications. To someone who wants them he would say that the ideal system runs parallel to the usual theory: "If this is what you want, try it: it is not my business to justify application of the system; that can only be done by philosophizing; I am a mathematician". In practice he is apt to say: "try this; if it works that will justify it".

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Running, Real, School

• It is true that I should have been surprised in the past to learn that Professor Hardy had joined the Oxford Group. But one could not say the adverse chance was 1:10. Mathematics is a dangerous profession; an appreciable proportion of us go mad, and then this particular event would be quite likely.

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Learning, Math, Past

• A heavy warning used to be given that pictures are not rigorous; this has never had its bluff called and has permanently frightened its victims into playing for safety.

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Safety, Warning, Mathematics

  John Edensor Littlewood, Béla Bollobás (1986). “Littlewood's Miscellany”, p.54, Cambridge University Press

• I constantly meet people who are doubtful, generally without due reason, about their potential capacity [as mathematicians]. The first test is whether you got anything out of geometry. To have disliked or failed to get on with other [mathematical] subjects need mean nothing; much drill and drudgery is unavoidable before they can get started, and bad teaching can make them unintelligible even to a born mathematician.

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Teaching, Failure, Mean

  "Littlewood's Miscellany".

• In passing, I firmly believe that research should be offset by a certain amount of teaching, if only as a change from the agony of research. The trouble, however, I freely admit, is that in practice you get either no teaching, or else far too much.

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Change, Teaching, Believe

• I read in the proof sheets of Hardy on Ramanujan: "As someone said, each of the positive integers was one of his personal friends." My reaction was, "I wonder who said that; I wish I had." In the next proof-sheets I read (what now stands), "It was Littlewood who said..."

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Friendship, Math, Wish

  John Edensor Littlewood, Béla Bollobás (1986). “Littlewood's Miscellany”, p.61, Cambridge University Press

• I recall once saying that when I had given the same lecture several times I couldn't help feeling that they really ought to know it by now.

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Math, Feelings, Lectures

  John Edensor Littlewood, Béla Bollobás (1986). “Littlewood's Miscellany”, p.135, Cambridge University Press

• A linguist would be shocked to learn that if a set is not closed this does not mean that it is open, or again that "E is dense in E" does not mean the same thing as "E is dense in itself".

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Learning, Mean, Math

  John Edensor Littlewood (1953). “A mathematicians's miscellany”

• The surprising thing about this paper is that a man who could write it would.

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Writing, Math, Science

  John Edensor Littlewood, Béla Bollobás (1986). “Littlewood's Miscellany”, p.59, Cambridge University Press

• The theory of numbers is particularly liable to the accusation that some of its problems are the wrong sort of questions to ask. I do not myself think the danger is serious; either a reasonable amount of concentration leads to new ideas or methods of obvious interest, or else one just leaves the problem alone. "Perfect numbers" certainly never did any good, but then they never did any particular harm.

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Math, Thinking, Numbers

  John Edensor Littlewood, Béla Bollobás (1986). “Littlewood's Miscellany”, p.74, Cambridge University Press

• The infinitely competent can be uncreative.

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Math, Mathematics, Mathematical

  John Edensor Littlewood, Béla Bollobás (1986). “Littlewood's Miscellany”, p.60, Cambridge University Press

• The first test of potential in mathematics is whether you can get anything out of geometry.

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Tests, Firsts, Mathematics

• A precisian professor had the habit of saying: "... quartic polynomial ax^4+bx^3+cx^2+dx+e , where e need not be the base of the natural logarithms."

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Math, Needs, Habit

• A good mathematical joke is better, and better mathematics, than a dozen mediocre papers.

  John Edensor Littlewood

  Math, Mediocrity, Paper

  John Edensor Littlewood, Béla Bollobás (1986). “Littlewood's Miscellany”, p.24, Cambridge University Press

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