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
science house stones
Science is built up of facts, as a house is with stones. But a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.
mathematics geometry theorems
One geometry cannot be more true than another; it can only be more convenient.
discovery generations spontaneity
Mathematical discoveries, small or great are never born of spontaneous generation.
errors mathematics mathematical
How is error possible in mathematics?
study relation mathematician
Mathematicians do not study objects, but relations between objects.
science thanks problem
When the physicists ask us for the solution of a problem, it is not drudgery that they impose on us, on the contrary, it is us who owe them thanks.
science technology numbers
Sociology is the science with the greatest number of methods and the least results.
nature work artist
A scientist worthy of his name, about all a mathematician, experiences in his work the same impression as an artist; his pleasure is as great and of the same nature.
groups mathematics tales
All of mathematics is a tale about groups.
effort difficulty
But all of my efforts served only to make me better acquainted with the difficulty, which in itself was something.
disease generations mathematics
Later generations will regard Mengenlehre (set theory) as a disease from which one has recovered.
beauty beautiful art
But for harmony beautiful to contemplate, science would not be worth following.
definitions philosopher logic
What is a good definition? For the philosopher or the scientist, it is a definition which applies to all the objects to be defined, and applies only to them; it is that which satisfies the rules of logic. But in education it is not that; it is one that can be understood by the pupils.
illumination long firsts
Most striking at first is the appearance of sudden illumination, a manifest sign of long unconscious prior work.