Richard Hamming: Trending quotes (page 3)

Richard Hamming

cited in: John G. Kemeny, ‎Thomas E. Kurtz, Structured BASIC programming (1987) p. 118

Thinking

“The only generally agreed upon definition of mathematics is "Mathematics is what mathematicians do." […]
In the face of this difficulty [of defining "computer science"] many people, including myself at times, feel that we should ignore the discussion and get on with doing it. But as George Forsythe points out so well in a recent article*, it does matter what people in Washington D. C. think computer science is. According to him, they tend to feel that it is a part of applied mathematics and therefore turn to the mathematicians for advice in the granting of funds. And it is not greatly different elsewhere; in both industry and the universities you can often still see traces of where computing first started, whether in electrical engineering, physics, mathematics, or even business. Evidently the picture which people have of a subject can significantly affect its subsequent development. Therefore, although we cannot hope to settle the question definitively, we need frequently to examine and to air our views on what our subject is and should become.”

Richard Hamming

Hamming cites Forsythe, G.E., "What to do until the computer scientist comes", Am. Math. Monthly 75 (5), May 1968, p. 454-461.
One Man's View of Computer Science (1969)

People , Hope , Feeling , Mathematics

“Probability and statistics are now so obviously necessary tools for understanding many diverse things that we must not ignore them even for the average student.”

Richard Hamming

Methods of Mathematics Applied to Calculus, Probability, and Statistics (1985)

Understanding

“Theorems… record more complex patterns of thinking that once shown to be valid need not be repeated every time they are needed.”

Richard Hamming

Methods of Mathematics Applied to Calculus, Probability, and Statistics (1985)

Thinking , Time

“Science and mathematics… have added little to our understanding of such things as Truth, Beauty, and Justice. There may be definite limits to the applicability of the scientific method.”

Richard Hamming

Methods of Mathematics Applied to Calculus, Probability, and Statistics (1985)

Truth , Justice , Beauty , Mathematics

“You ought to try to make significant contributions to humanity rather than just get along through life comfortably… the life of trying to achieve excellence in some area is in itself a worthy goal… A life without a struggle on your part to make yourself excellent is hardly a life worth living. …a life without such a goal… is merely existing…”

Richard Hamming

The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn (1991)

Life , Parting

“Unforeseen technological inventions can completely upset the most careful predictions.”

Richard Hamming

The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn (1991)

“The methods of mathematics are the main topic of the course, not a long list of finished mathematical results with such highly polished proofs that the poor student can only marvel at the results, with no hope of understanding how mathematics is actually created by practicing mathematicians.”

Richard Hamming

Methods of Mathematics Applied to Calculus, Probability, and Statistics (1985)

Hope , Mathematics , Understanding

“An idea which arises in the field, based on the direct experience of the people doing the job, cannot get going in a centrally controlled system… The not invented here (NIH) syndrome is one of the major curses of our society…”

Richard Hamming

The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn (1991)

People , Idea

“The standard process of organizing knowledge into departments, and subderpartments, and further breaking it up into separate courses, tends to conceal the homogeneity of knowledge, and at the same time to omit much which falls between the courses.”

Richard Hamming

The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn (1991)

Knowledge , Time

“Understanding the methods of calculus is vital to the creative use of mathematics… Without this mastery the average scientist or engineer, or any other user of mathematics, will be perpetually stunted in development, and will at best be able to follow only what the textbooks say; with mastery, new things can be done, even in old, well-established fields.”

Richard Hamming

Methods of Mathematics Applied to Calculus, Probability, and Statistics (1985)

Mathematics , Understanding

“This is the type of AI I am interested in—what can the human and machine do together, and not in the competition which can arise. …There are doubts as to what fraction of the population can compete with computers, even with nice interactive prompting menus.”

Richard Hamming

The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn (1991)

“Statistics should be taught early so that the concepts are absorbed by the student's flexible, adaptable mind before it is too late.”

Richard Hamming

Methods of Mathematics Applied to Calculus, Probability, and Statistics (1985)

“The calculus is probably the most useful single branch of mathematics. …I have found the ability to do simple calculus, easily and reliably, was the most valuable part of mathematics I ever learned.”

Richard Hamming

Methods of Mathematics Applied to Calculus, Probability, and Statistics (1985)

Mathematics , Learning , Parting

“All of engineering involves some creativity to cover the parts not known, and almost all of science includes some practical engineering to translate the abstractions into practice.”

Richard Hamming

The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn (1991)

Science , Parting

“We constantly use the word "simplify", but its meaning depends on what you are going to do next, and there is no uniform definition.”

Richard Hamming

The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn (1991)

Dependency

“The past is… much more uncertain—or even falsely reported—than is usually recognized.”

Richard Hamming

Preface
The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn (1991)

Past , Falseness

“Probability is the mathematics of uncertainty. …many modern theories have uncertainty built into their foundations. Thus learning to think in terms of probability is essential.”

Richard Hamming

Methods of Mathematics Applied to Calculus, Probability, and Statistics (1985)

Mathematics , Thinking , Learning

“Without real experience in using the computer to get useful results the computer science major is apt to know all about the marvelous tool except how to use it. Such a person is a mere technician, skilled in manipulating the tool but with little sense of how and when to use it for its basic purposes.”

Richard Hamming

One Man's View of Computer Science (1969)

Sense , Science , Personality

“In forming your plan for your future you need to distinguish three different questions: What is possible? What is likely to happen? What is desirable to have happen? In a sense the first is Science… The second is Engineering.. The third is ethics, morals, or… value judgements. …you will probably have an idea of how to alter things to make the more desirable future occur …having a vision is what tends to separate the leaders from the followers.”

Richard Hamming

The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn (1991)

Idea , Question , Sense , Science