Mathematics Is Surprising

Sunday reflection:

"Perhaps the most surprising thing about mathematics is that it is so surprising. The rules which we make up at the beginning seem ordinary and inevitable, but it is impossible to foresee their consequences. These have only been found out by long study, extending over many centuries. Much of our knowledge is due to a comparatively few great mathematicians such as Newton, Euler, Gauss, or Riemann; few careers can have been more satisfying than theirs. They have contributed something to human thought even more lasting than great literature, since it is independent of language."

-- Edward Charles Titchmarsh, quoted in Mathematical Maxims and Minims by N. Rose


[between all the Holiday and political hoopla, blogposts here might be a little scarce the next few weeks, but I do have a new year-end book wrap over at MathTango today.]