G. H. Hardy
G. H. Hardy
Godfrey Harold "G. H." Hardy FRS was an English mathematician, known for his achievements in number theory and mathematical analysis...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionMathematician
Date of Birth7 February 1877
science development distribution-of-wealth
A science is said to be useful if its development tends to accentuate the existing inequalities in the distribution of wealth, or more directly promotes the destruction of human life.
achievement mathematics endure
As history proves abundantly, mathematical achievement, whatever its intrinsic worth, is the most enduring of all.
occupation study innocent
The study of mathematics is, if an unprofitable, a perfectly harmless and innocent occupation.
degrees mathematics economy
In [great mathematics] there is a very high degree of unexpectedness, combined with inevitability and economy.
escaping discovery differences
I have never done anything 'useful'. No discovery of mine has made, or is likely to make, directly or indirectly, for good or ill, the least difference to the amenity of the world... Judged by all practical standards, the value of my mathematical life is nil; and outside mathematics it is trivial anyhow. I have just one chance of escaping a verdict of complete triviality, that I may be judged to have created something worth creating. And that I have created something is undeniable: the question is about its value.
appreciation math names
Most people have some appreciation of mathematics, just as most people can enjoy a pleasant tune; and there are probably more people really interested in mathematics than in music. Appearances suggest the contrary, but there are easy explanations. Music can be used to stimulate mass emotion, while mathematics cannot; and musical incapacity is recognized (no doubt rightly) as mildly discreditable, whereas most people are so frightened of the name of mathematics that they are ready, quite unaffectedly, to exaggerate their own mathematical stupidity
ambition leaving ambitious
A person’s first duty, a young person’s at any rate, is to be ambitious, and the noblest ambition is that of leaving behind something of permanent value.
study conflict ancient
In these days of conflict between ancient and modern studies, there must surely be something to be said for a study which did not begin with Pythagoras, and will not end with Einstein, but is the oldest and the youngest of all.
hymns chess tunes
Chess problems are the hymn-tunes of mathematics.
civilization names interesting
The Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations have perished; Hammurabi, Sargon and Nebuchadnezzar are empty names; yet Babylonian mathematics is still interesting, and the Babylonian scale of 60 is still used in Astronomy.
math hunting use
All analysts spend half their time hunting through the literature for inequalities which they want to use and cannot prove.
science men two
A man who sets out to justify his existence and his activities has to distinguish two different questions. The first is whether the work which he does is worth doing; and the second is why he does it (whatever its value may be).
mind may habit
Mathematics may, like poetry or music, "promote and sustain a lofty habit of mind."
creative mathematics contemplative
Mathematics is not a contemplative but a creative subject.