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Henry George Forder
(27 Sep 1889 - )
English mathematician.
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Science Quotes by Henry George Forder (1 quote)
The virtue of a logical proof is not that it compels belief but that it suggests doubts.
— Henry George Forder
In Foundations of Euclidean Geometry (1927), viii. This quote is often seen mis-attributed to Morris Kline, who merely quoted it without citation in his books. The idea was expressed earlier by Bertrand Russell as, “It is one of the chief merits of proofs that they instill a certain skepticism about the result proved.” See the Bertrand Russell Quotes page on this website.
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) -- 
