We may always depend on it that algebra, which cannot be translated into good English and sound common sense, is bad algebra.
Interpretation
Algebra must be understandable and practical; if it isn't, it fails its purpose.
This quote by William Kingdon Clifford emphasizes the importance of clarity and practicality in mathematics, specifically algebra. It suggests that if algebra cannot be expressed in straightforward, understandable language and common sense, then it loses its effectiveness and usefulness. The essence of mathematical concepts should be accessible to ensure they can be effectively utilized in real-world scenarios.
In practice
This quote can be used in a math class to emphasize the importance of understanding math concepts.
The aim of scientific thought, then, is to apply past experience to new circumstances; the instrument is an observed uniformity in the course of events. By the use of this instrument it gives us information transcending our experience, it enables us to infer things that we have not seen from things that we have seen; and the evidence for the truth of that information depends on our supposing that the uniformity holds good beyond our experience.
Remember that [scientific thought] is the guide of action; that the truth which it arrives at is not that which we can ideally contemplate without error, but that which we may act upon without fear; and you cannot fail to see that scientific thought is not an accompaniment or condition of human progress, but human progress itself.
Into this, for good or ill, is woven every belief of every man who has speech of his fellows. A awful privilege, and an awful responsibility, that we should help to create the world in which posterity will live.
This sense of power is the highest and best of pleasures when the belief on which it is founded is a true belief, and has been fairly earned by investigation.
It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.
Whoever touches the life of the child touches the most sensitive point of a whole which has roots in the most distant past and climbs toward the infinite future.
I was on the whole considerably discouraged by my school days... It is not pleasant to feel oneself so completely outclassed and left behind at the very beginning of the race.
Whether I'm at the office, at home, or on the road, I always have a stack of books I'm looking forward to reading.
It is this simplicity that makes the uneducated more effective than the educated when addressing popular audiences-makes them, as the poets tell us, 'charm the crowd's ears more finely.' Educated men lay down broad general principles; uneducated men argue from common knowledge and draw obvious conclusions.
I convinced myself economic empowerment of women was going to be key, especially in a country like this where most women didn't go to school.
With this new initiative, Disney is doing what no major media company has ever done before in the United States. And what I hope every company will do going forward when it comes to the ads they show and the food they sell they're asking themselves one simple question: Is this good for our kids?
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