Steven Strogatz Quotations

Looking at numbers as groups of rocks may seem unusual, but actually it's as old as math itself. The word "calculate" reflects that legacy - it comes from the Latin word calculus, meaning a pebble used for counting. To enjoy working with numbers you don't have to be Einstein (German for "one stone"), but it might help to have rocks in your head.

I loved this smart, funny, big-hearted novel. As hilarious and wise as early Philip Roth, The Mathematician's Shiva will delight and move you.

Change is most sluggish at the extremes precisely because the derivative is zero there.

One of the pleasures of looking at the world through mathematical eyes is that you can see certain patterns that would otherwise be hidden.

When you create something new, you're breaking tradition - which is an act of defiance.

When you love a problem, its contours, obstacles and resistances are all just part of its character.

The frequencies of the notes in a scale—do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do—sound to us like they’re rising in equal steps. But objectively their vibrational frequencies are rising by equal multiples. We perceive pitch logarithmically.

Logic leaves us no choice. In that sense, math always involves both invention and discovery: we invent the concepts but discover their consequences. … in mathematics our freedom lies in the questions we ask – and in how we pursue them – but not in the answers awaiting us.

In mathematics, our freedom lies in the questions we ask — and in how we pursue them — but not in the answers awaiting us.

We think our theory will provide some guidance to help engineers avoid the problem.