Mathematicians in dark rooms



Something I came across a couple of days ago:

Tomlinson Fort, "Mathematics and the Sciences",
American Mathematical Monthly 47 (1940), 605-612.

"A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking
for a black hat which isn't there." [p. 606]

Fort says the quote has been attributed to Charles Darwin,
but Fort suspects the attribution to Darwin is probably
not correct.

Dave L. Renfro

.



Relevant Pages

  • Re: Mathematicians in dark rooms
    ... Tomlinson Fort, "Mathematics and the Sciences", ... Fort says the quote has been attributed to Charles Darwin, ... but Fort suspects the attribution to Darwin is probably ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: Mathematicians in dark rooms
    ... Tomlinson Fort, "Mathematics and the Sciences", ... Fort says the quote has been attributed to Charles Darwin, ... but Fort suspects the attribution to Darwin is probably ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: Mathematicians in dark rooms
    ... Dave L. Renfro wrote: ... Tomlinson Fort, "Mathematics and the Sciences", ... Fort says the quote has been attributed to Charles Darwin, ... Doing mathematical research is like wandering around in a dark room, ...
    (sci.math)