It is wrong for a man to say that he is certain of the objective truth of any proposition unless he can produce evidence which logically justifies that certainty.
Thomas HuxleyRead
Mathematics may be compared to a mill of exquisite workmanship, which grinds you stuff of any degree of fineness; but, nevertheless, what you get out depends upon what you put in; and as the grandest mill in the world will not extract wheat-flour from peascods, so pages of formulae will not get a definite result out of loose data.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The output quality of mathematics relies on the quality of input data.
In this quote, Thomas Huxley compares mathematics to a finely crafted mill that processes inputs into outputs. He emphasizes that just like a mill cannot produce flour from peas, mathematics cannot yield meaningful results from poor or unstructured data. The quote highlights the essential relationship between inputs and outputs in analytical processes, underscoring the importance of quality data in achieving accurate conclusions.
Themes
MathematicsInputOutputDataQuality
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on data science, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of quality data.
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