TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY ®  •  TODAYINSCI ®
Celebrating 25 Years on the Web
Find science on or your birthday

Today in Science History - Quickie Quiz
Who said: “Dangerous... to take shelter under a tree, during a thunder-gust. It has been fatal to many, both men and beasts.”
more quiz questions >>
Home > Dictionary of Science Quotations > Scientist Names Index B > W.W.R. Ball Quotes

Thumbnail of W.W.R. Ball (source)
W.W.R. Ball
(14 Aug 1850 - 4 Apr 1925)

English mathematician and lawyer who was a fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge (1878-1905). His popular book, A Short Account of the History of Mathematics (1888), reached 10 editions and many reprintings in his lifetime.

Science Quotes by W.W.R. Ball (11 quotes)

[Gauss calculated the elements of the planet Ceres] and his analysis proved him to be the first of theoretical astronomers no less than the greatest of “arithmeticians.”
— W.W.R. Ball
In History of Mathematics (3rd Ed., 1901), 458.
Science quotes on:  |  Analysis (244)  |  Anecdote (21)  |  Arithmetician (3)  |  Astronomer (97)  |  Calculate (58)  |  Element (322)  |  First (1302)  |  Carl Friedrich Gauss (79)  |  Greatest (330)  |  Mathematicians and Anecdotes (141)  |  Planet (402)  |  Theory (1015)

Babbage … gave the name to the [Cambridge] Analytical Society, which he stated was formed to advocate “the principles of pure d-ism as opposed to the dot-age of the university.”
— W.W.R. Ball
In History of Mathematics (3rd Ed., 1901), 451.
Science quotes on:  |  Advocate (20)  |  Age (509)  |  Anecdote (21)  |  Charles Babbage (54)  |  Dot (18)  |  Form (976)  |  Mathematicians and Anecdotes (141)  |  Name (359)  |  Principle (530)  |  Pure (299)  |  Society (350)  |  University (130)

Biot, who assisted Laplace in revising it [The Mécanique Céleste] for the press, says that Laplace himself was frequently unable to recover the details in the chain of reasoning, and if satisfied that the conclusions were correct, he was content to insert the constantly recurring formula, “Il est àisé a voir” [it is easy to see].
— W.W.R. Ball
In History of Mathematics (3rd Ed., 1901), 427.
Science quotes on:  |  Anecdote (21)  |  Assist (9)  |  Biot_Jean (2)  |  Conclusion (266)  |  Content (75)  |  Correct (95)  |  Detail (150)  |  Easy (213)  |  Formula (102)  |  Himself (461)  |  Pierre-Simon Laplace (63)  |  Mathematicians and Anecdotes (141)  |  Proof (304)  |  Reasoning (212)  |  Recurring (12)  |  Revise (6)  |  Satisfy (29)  |  Say (989)  |  See (1094)

De Morgan was explaining to an actuary what was the chance that a certain proportion of some group of people would at the end of a given time be alive; and quoted the actuarial formula, involving p [pi], which, in answer to a question, he explained stood for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. His acquaintance, who had so far listened to the explanation with interest, interrupted him and exclaimed, “My dear friend, that must be a delusion, what can a circle have to do with the number of people alive at a given time?”
— W.W.R. Ball
In Mathematical Recreations and Problems (1896), 180; See also De Morgan’s Budget of Paradoxes (1872), 172.
Science quotes on:  |  Acquaintance (38)  |  Actuary (2)  |  Alive (97)  |  Anecdote (21)  |  Answer (389)  |  Certain (557)  |  Chance (244)  |  Circle (117)  |  Circumference (23)  |  Death (406)  |  Delusion (26)  |  Augustus De Morgan (45)  |  Diameter (28)  |  Do (1905)  |  End (603)  |  Exclaim (15)  |  Explain (334)  |  Explanation (246)  |  Formula (102)  |  Friend (180)  |  Group (83)  |  Interest (416)  |  Interrupt (6)  |  Listen (81)  |  Mathematicians and Anecdotes (141)  |  Must (1525)  |  Number (710)  |  People (1031)  |  Pi (14)  |  Proportion (140)  |  Question (649)  |  Ratio (41)  |  Time (1911)

For other great mathematicians or philosophers, he [Gauss] used the epithets magnus, or clarus, or clarissimus; for Newton alone he kept the prefix summus.
— W.W.R. Ball
In History of Mathematics (3rd Ed., 1901), 362.
Science quotes on:  |  Alone (324)  |  Anecdote (21)  |  Epithet (3)  |  Carl Friedrich Gauss (79)  |  Great (1610)  |  Mathematician (407)  |  Mathematicians and Anecdotes (141)  |  Sir Isaac Newton (363)  |  Other (2233)  |  Philosopher (269)

Foreshadowings of the principles and even of the language of [the infinitesimal] calculus can be found in the writings of Napier, Kepler, Cavalieri, Pascal, Fermat, Wallis, and Barrow. It was Newton's good luck to come at a time when everything was ripe for the discovery, and his ability enabled him to construct almost at once a complete calculus.
— W.W.R. Ball
In History of Mathematics (3rd Ed., 1901), 366.
Science quotes on:  |  Ability (162)  |  Anecdote (21)  |  Isaac Barrow (8)  |  Calculus (65)  |  Complete (209)  |  Construct (129)  |  Discovery (837)  |  Enable (122)  |  Everything (489)  |  Pierre de Fermat (15)  |  Foreshadow (5)  |  Good (906)  |  Infinitesimal (30)  |  Johannes Kepler (95)  |  Language (308)  |  Luck (44)  |  Mathematicians and Anecdotes (141)  |  John Napier (4)  |  Sir Isaac Newton (363)  |  Blaise Pascal (81)  |  Principle (530)  |  Publication (102)  |  Time (1911)  |  John Wallis (3)  |  Writing (192)

I have often thought that an interesting essay might be written on the influence of race on the selection of mathematical methods. methods. The Semitic races had a special genius for arithmetic and algebra, but as far as I know have never produced a single geometrician of any eminence. The Greeks on the other hand adopted a geometrical procedure wherever it was possible, and they even treated arithmetic as a branch of geometry by means of the device of representing numbers by lines.
— W.W.R. Ball
In A History of the Study of Mathematics at Cambridge (1889), 123
Science quotes on:  |  Algebra (117)  |  Arithmetic (144)  |  Branch (155)  |  Device (71)  |  Eminence (25)  |  Essay (27)  |  Genius (301)  |  Geometrician (6)  |  Geometry (271)  |  Greek (109)  |  Influence (231)  |  Interesting (153)  |  Know (1538)  |  Line (100)  |  Mathematics (1395)  |  Mean (810)  |  Means (587)  |  Method (531)  |  Never (1089)  |  Number (710)  |  On The Other Hand (40)  |  Other (2233)  |  Possible (560)  |  Procedure (48)  |  Produced (187)  |  Race (278)  |  Represent (157)  |  Selection (130)  |  Single (365)  |  Special (188)  |  Thought (995)  |  Wherever (51)  |  Write (250)

Newton took no exercise, indulged in no amusements, and worked incessantly, often spending eighteen or nineteen hours out of the twenty-four in writing.
— W.W.R. Ball
In History of Mathematics (3rd Ed., 1901), 358.
Science quotes on:  |  Amusement (37)  |  Anecdote (21)  |  Exercise (113)  |  Hour (192)  |  Incessantly (3)  |  Indulge (15)  |  Mathematicians and Anecdotes (141)  |  Sir Isaac Newton (363)  |  Spending (24)  |  Work (1402)  |  Write (250)  |  Writing (192)

The great masters of modern analysis are Lagrange, Laplace, and Gauss, who were contemporaries. It is interesting to note the marked contrast in their styles. Lagrange is perfect both in form and matter, he is careful to explain his procedure, and though his arguments are general they are easy to follow. Laplace on the other hand explains nothing, is indifferent to style, and, if satisfied that his results are correct, is content to leave them either with no proof or with a faulty one. Gauss is as exact and elegant as Lagrange, but even more difficult to follow than Laplace, for he removes every trace of the analysis by which he reached his results, and studies to give a proof which while rigorous shall be as concise and synthetical as possible.
— W.W.R. Ball
In History of Mathematics (3rd Ed., 1901), 468.
Science quotes on:  |  Analysis (244)  |  Anecdote (21)  |  Argument (145)  |  Both (496)  |  Concise (9)  |  Contemporary (33)  |  Content (75)  |  Contrast (45)  |  Correct (95)  |  Difficult (263)  |  Easy (213)  |  Elegant (37)  |  Exact (75)  |  Explain (334)  |  Explanation (246)  |  Faulty (3)  |  Follow (389)  |  Form (976)  |  Carl Friedrich Gauss (79)  |  General (521)  |  Great (1610)  |  Interesting (153)  |  Count Joseph-Louis de Lagrange (26)  |  Pierre-Simon Laplace (63)  |  Leave (138)  |  Marked (55)  |  Master (182)  |  Mathematicians and Anecdotes (141)  |  Matter (821)  |  Modern (402)  |  More (2558)  |  Nothing (1000)  |  Other (2233)  |  Perfect (223)  |  Perfection (131)  |  Possible (560)  |  Procedure (48)  |  Proof (304)  |  Reach (286)  |  Reasoning (212)  |  Remove (50)  |  Result (700)  |  Rigor (29)  |  Rigorous (50)  |  Satisfy (29)  |  Style (24)  |  Synthetic (27)  |  Trace (109)

The manner of Demoivre’s death has a certain interest for psychologists. Shortly before it, he declared that it was necessary for him to sleep some ten minutes or a quarter of an hour longer each day than the preceding one: the day after he had thus reached a total of something over twenty-three hours he slept up to the limit of twenty-four hours, and then died in his sleep.
— W.W.R. Ball
In History of Mathematics (3rd Ed., 1901), 394.
Science quotes on:  |  Anecdote (21)  |  Certain (557)  |  Day (43)  |  Death (406)  |  Declare (48)  |  Declared (24)  |  Hour (192)  |  Interest (416)  |  Limit (294)  |  Mathematicians and Anecdotes (141)  |  Minute (129)  |  Necessary (370)  |  Psychologist (26)  |  Reach (286)  |  Sleep (81)  |  Something (718)  |  Total (95)

Throughout his life Newton must have devoted at least as much attention to chemistry and theology as to mathematics.
— W.W.R. Ball
In History of Mathematics (3rd Ed., 1901), 335.
Science quotes on:  |  Anecdote (21)  |  Attention (196)  |  Chemistry (376)  |  Devote (45)  |  Devoted (59)  |  Life (1870)  |  Mathematicians and Anecdotes (141)  |  Mathematics (1395)  |  Must (1525)  |  Sir Isaac Newton (363)  |  Theology (54)  |  Throughout (98)


Carl Sagan Thumbnail In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. (1987) -- Carl Sagan
Quotations by:Albert EinsteinIsaac NewtonLord KelvinCharles DarwinSrinivasa RamanujanCarl SaganFlorence NightingaleThomas EdisonAristotleMarie CurieBenjamin FranklinWinston ChurchillGalileo GalileiSigmund FreudRobert BunsenLouis PasteurTheodore RooseveltAbraham LincolnRonald ReaganLeonardo DaVinciMichio KakuKarl PopperJohann GoetheRobert OppenheimerCharles Kettering  ... (more people)

Quotations about:Atomic  BombBiologyChemistryDeforestationEngineeringAnatomyAstronomyBacteriaBiochemistryBotanyConservationDinosaurEnvironmentFractalGeneticsGeologyHistory of ScienceInventionJupiterKnowledgeLoveMathematicsMeasurementMedicineNatural ResourceOrganic ChemistryPhysicsPhysicianQuantum TheoryResearchScience and ArtTeacherTechnologyUniverseVolcanoVirusWind PowerWomen ScientistsX-RaysYouthZoology  ... (more topics)
Sitewide search within all Today In Science History pages:
Visit our Science and Scientist Quotations index for more Science Quotes from archaeologists, biologists, chemists, geologists, inventors and inventions, mathematicians, physicists, pioneers in medicine, science events and technology.

Names index: | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |

Categories index: | 1 | 2 | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
Thank you for sharing.
- 100 -
Sophie Germain
Gertrude Elion
Ernest Rutherford
James Chadwick
Marcel Proust
William Harvey
Johann Goethe
John Keynes
Carl Gauss
Paul Feyerabend
- 90 -
Antoine Lavoisier
Lise Meitner
Charles Babbage
Ibn Khaldun
Euclid
Ralph Emerson
Robert Bunsen
Frederick Banting
Andre Ampere
Winston Churchill
- 80 -
John Locke
Bronislaw Malinowski
Bible
Thomas Huxley
Alessandro Volta
Erwin Schrodinger
Wilhelm Roentgen
Louis Pasteur
Bertrand Russell
Jean Lamarck
- 70 -
Samuel Morse
John Wheeler
Nicolaus Copernicus
Robert Fulton
Pierre Laplace
Humphry Davy
Thomas Edison
Lord Kelvin
Theodore Roosevelt
Carolus Linnaeus
- 60 -
Francis Galton
Linus Pauling
Immanuel Kant
Martin Fischer
Robert Boyle
Karl Popper
Paul Dirac
Avicenna
James Watson
William Shakespeare
- 50 -
Stephen Hawking
Niels Bohr
Nikola Tesla
Rachel Carson
Max Planck
Henry Adams
Richard Dawkins
Werner Heisenberg
Alfred Wegener
John Dalton
- 40 -
Pierre Fermat
Edward Wilson
Johannes Kepler
Gustave Eiffel
Giordano Bruno
JJ Thomson
Thomas Kuhn
Leonardo DaVinci
Archimedes
David Hume
- 30 -
Andreas Vesalius
Rudolf Virchow
Richard Feynman
James Hutton
Alexander Fleming
Emile Durkheim
Benjamin Franklin
Robert Oppenheimer
Robert Hooke
Charles Kettering
- 20 -
Carl Sagan
James Maxwell
Marie Curie
Rene Descartes
Francis Crick
Hippocrates
Michael Faraday
Srinivasa Ramanujan
Francis Bacon
Galileo Galilei
- 10 -
Aristotle
John Watson
Rosalind Franklin
Michio Kaku
Isaac Asimov
Charles Darwin
Sigmund Freud
Albert Einstein
Florence Nightingale
Isaac Newton


by Ian Ellis
who invites your feedback
Thank you for sharing
on Blue Sky.
Today in Science History
Sign up for Newsletter
with quiz, quotes and more.