Do not imagine that mathematics is hard and crabbed, and repulsive to common sense. It is merely the etherealization of common sense.
Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Mathematics is not opposed to common sense; it is simply common sense made abstract and precise.
- In plain terms
- Math is just common sense made into precise rules.
- What can you take from it?
- Math is a natural extension of everyday thinking.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When did math click as common sense?
- How do you learn hard things?
Another view
Advanced math often requires thinking that feels unnatural to common sense.
More from William Thomson
There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement.
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