David Deutsch: Quotes about mathematics

David Deutsch is British physicist. Explore interesting quotes on mathematics.
David Deutsch: 40 quotes5 likes

“Reality contains not only evidence, but also the means (such as our minds, and our artefacts) of understanding it. There are mathematical symbols in physical reality. The fact that it is we who put them there does not make them any less physical.”

David Deutsch book The Fabric of Reality

Source: The Fabric of Reality (1997), Ch.3

“Mathematical knowledge may, just like our scientific knowledge, be deep and broad, it may be subtle and wonderfully explanatory, it may be uncontroversially accepted; but it cannot be certain.”

David Deutsch book The Fabric of Reality

Source: The Fabric of Reality (1997), Ch. 10

“The next chapter is likely to provoke many mathematicians. This can't be helped. Mathematics is not what they think it is.”

David Deutsch book The Fabric of Reality

Source: The Fabric of Reality (1997), Ch. 10

“Necessary truth is merely the subject-matter of mathematics, not the reward we get for doing mathematics. The object of mathematics is not, and cannot be, mathematical certainty. It is not even mathematical truth, certain or otherwise. It is, and must be, mathematical explanation.”

David Deutsch book The Fabric of Reality

The Fabric of Reality (1997)