All practical teachers know that education is a patient process of mastery of details, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead
Mathematics as a science, commenced when first someone, probably a Greek, proved propositions about "any" things or about "some" things, without specifications of definite particular things.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Mathematics began when it transitioned from specific instances to general propositions.
Alfred North Whitehead emphasizes the pivotal moment in the history of mathematics when thinkers started to formulate general rules and theories that applied to abstract entities rather than only specific, tangible examples. This shift allowed mathematics to develop as a rigorous science, abstracting concepts to understand broader truths about the universe.
Themes
MathematicsAbstractionSciencePropositionsGeneralization
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a lecture on the philosophy of mathematics to highlight its evolution.
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