“That this subject [of imaginary magnitudes] has hitherto been considered from the wrong point of view and surrounded by a mysterious obscurity, is to be attributed largely to an ill-adapted notation. If for instance, +1, -1, √-1 had been called direct, inverse, and lateral units, instead of positive, negative, and imaginary (or even impossible) such an obscurity would have been out of question.”

— Carl Friedrich Gauss

In Theoria residiorum biquadraticorum, Commentatio secunda; Werke, Bd. 2 (Goettingen, 1863), p.177. As quoted by Robert Edouard Moritz in Memorabilia mathematica: the philomath's quotation book (1914) p. 282.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "That this subject [of imaginary magnitudes] has hitherto been considered from the wrong point of view and surrounded by…" by Carl Friedrich Gauss?

Carl Friedrich Gauss50

German mathematician and physical scientist 1777–1855

Related quotes

“The multiplication table will not occur in this book, not even the theorem,2 \cdot 2 = 4,but I would recommend, as an exercise, that you define2 = 1 + 1,
4 = (((1 + 1) + 1) + 1)and then prove the theorem.”

Edmund Landau (1877–1938) German Jewish mathematician

Grundlagen der Analysis [Foundations of Analysis] (1930) Preface for the Student, as quoted by Eli Maor, Trigonometric Delights (2013)

“When FORTRAN has been called an infantile disorder, full PL/1, with its growth characteristics of a dangerous tumor, could turn out to be a fatal disease.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra (1930–2002) Dutch computer scientist

1970s, The Humble Programmer (1972)

“The reason that economic textbooks now begin with imaginary villages is because it has been impossible to talk about real ones. Even some economists have been forced to admit that Smith's Land of Barter doesn't really exist.

The question is why the myth is perpetuated anyway.”

David Graeber (1961) American anthropologist and anarchist

Source: Debt: The First 5,000 Years (2011), Chapter Three, "Primordial Debts", p. 43

“Taylor…. Benjani coming in………. OHHHHH, HOW ABOUT THAT! A bullet of a header; Totally out of the blue - It's Portsmouth 1, Manchester United 1! Utaka did well…forcing it wide, Taylor with an in cross, Benjani coming from a deep position; wasn't picked up….. he launched himself at it….1-1. No one could see that coming…. and no one saw Benjani coming.”

Jonathan Pearce (1959) British football commentator

Jonathan's sheer excitement as Portsmouth equalise against the champions, Manchester United at Fratton Park in August 2007. The match ended in a stalemate draw, both sides having a player sent off in the final third.

“In the last thirty years, there has been a massive redistribution of wealth. Unfortunately, it's gone in the wrong direction. … All that money that has gone from the middle class to the top 1%, I think it should start coming back to the people who need it the most.”

Bernie Sanders (1941) American politician, senator for Vermont

Late Night with Seth Meyers, (2 June 2015)
2010s, 2015

“This poem has been called obscure. I refuse to believe that it is obscurer than pity, violence, or suffering. But being a poem, not a lifetime, it is more compressed.”

Dylan Thomas (1914–1953) Welsh poet and writer

“It's hard to be a No. 1 when you're not even No. 1 on your team.”

Adam Wainwright (1981) baseball player

referring to teammate Chris Carpenter in an interview with Rick Hummel http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/3CEB98B6FFF40EE5862576130013BD03?OpenDocument.

“How wrong to have been so negative, how wrong to have been so gloomy, how wrong to have run away from life, how wrong to have said no, again and again, instead of yes.”

Jonathan Franzen (1959) novelist

“MODERATOR 1: Okay. Which designers do you prefer?
SECRETARY CLINTON: What designers of clothes?
MODERATOR 1: Yes.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Would you ever ask a man that question? [Laughter, applause]
MODERATOR 1: Probably not. Probably not. [Applause]”

Hillary Clinton (1947) American politician, senator, Secretary of State, First Lady

Townterview Hosted by KTR http://web.archive.org/web/20101204161545/http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/12/152294.htm, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State. KTR Studio, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (December 2, 2010) <br class="br">Secretary of State (2009–2013)

“Rule #1: The customer is always right. Rule #2: If the customer is wrong, please refer to rule #1.
-Duncan Howe”

Ann Brashares The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Source: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Carl Friedrich Gauss50

Related quotes

Related topics