David Eugene Smith Quote

The field of mathematics is now so extensive that no one can [any] longer pretend to cover it, least of all the specialist in any one department. Furthermore it takes a century or more to weigh men and their discoveries, thus making the judgment of contemporaries often quite worthless.


David Eugene Smith, History of Modern Mathematics, 1896; 1904


The field of mathematics is now so extensive that no one can [any] longer pretend to cover it, least of all the specialist in any one department....

The field of mathematics is now so extensive that no one can [any] longer pretend to cover it, least of all the specialist in any one department....

The field of mathematics is now so extensive that no one can [any] longer pretend to cover it, least of all the specialist in any one department....

The field of mathematics is now so extensive that no one can [any] longer pretend to cover it, least of all the specialist in any one department....