Weird Quotes (3 quotes)
In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and theyre still beautiful.
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Mathematics, a creation of the mind, so accurately fits the outside world.
[There is a] fantastic amount of uniformity in the universe. The formulas of physics are compressed descriptions of nature's weird repetitions. The accuracy of those formulas, coupled with natures tireless ability to keep doing everything the same way, gives them their incredible power.
In book review, 'Adventures Of a Mathematician: The Man Who Invented the H-Bomb', New York Times (9 May 1976), 201. The book is a biography of Stanislaw Ulam, and this is Gardners description of one of Ulams reflections on nature and mathematics.
We have learned that matter is weird stuff. It is weird enough, so that it does not limit Gods freedom to make it do what he pleases.
From Gifford Lectures (Apr-Nov 1985), 'In Praise of Diversity', given at Aberdeen, Scotland. In Infinite in All Directions (1988), 8.