“That a formal science like algebra, the creation of our abstract thought, should thus, in a sense, dictate the laws of its own being, is very remarkable. It has required the experience of centuries for us to realize the full force of this appeal.”

—  George Ballard Mathews

G.B. Mathews quoted in: F. Spencer. Chapters on Aims and Practice of Teaching, (London, 1899), p. 184. Reported in Moritz (1914).

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George Ballard Mathews 6
British mathematician 1861–1922

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