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
The study of mathematics is apt to commence in disappointment... We are told that by its aid the stars are weighed and the billions of molecules in a drop of water are counted. Yet, like the ghost of Hamlet's father, this great science eludes the efforts of our mental weapons to grasp it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The study of mathematics can be frustrating as it often seems beyond our grasp, despite its profound applications in understanding the universe.
Alfred North Whitehead reflects on the challenging nature of mathematics, suggesting that while it is essential for grasping vast concepts such as the weight of stars and the intricacies of molecules, it often leaves learners feeling disappointed and confused. He compares this elusiveness to the ghost of Hamlet's father, indicating that the true essence of mathematics can be difficult to apprehend fully, despite its significant contributions to science.
Themes
MathematicsScienceDisappointmentKnowledgeUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the importance of mathematics, one might quote Whitehead to illustrate the initial struggles students face.
More from Alfred North Whitehead
All quotes →The vitality of thought is in adventure. Idea's won't keep. Something must be done about them. When the idea is new, its custodians have fervour, live for it, and, if need be, die for it. Their inheritors receive the idea, perhaps now strong and successful, but without inheriting the fervour; so the idea settles down to a comfortable middle age, turns senile, and dies.
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The guiding motto in the life of every natural philosopher should be, seek simplicity and distrust it.
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Inventive genius requires pleasurable mental activity as a condition for its vigorous exercise. "Necessity is the mother of invention" is a silly proverb. "Necessity is the mother of futile dodges" is much closer to the truth. The basis of growth of modern invention is science, and science is almost wholly the outgrowth of pleasurable intellectual curiosity.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead
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