Richard Courant Quote

Empirical evidence can never establish mathematical existence—nor can the mathematician's demand for existence be dismissed by the physicist as useless rigor. Only a mathematical existence proof can ensure that the mathematical description of a physical phenomenon is meaningful.


Richard Courant in: The Parsimonious Universe, Stefan Hildebrandt & Anthony Tromba, Springer-Verlag, 1996, page 148


Empirical evidence can never establish mathematical existence—nor can the mathematician's demand for existence be dismissed by the physicist as...

Empirical evidence can never establish mathematical existence—nor can the mathematician's demand for existence be dismissed by the physicist as...

Empirical evidence can never establish mathematical existence—nor can the mathematician's demand for existence be dismissed by the physicist as...

Empirical evidence can never establish mathematical existence—nor can the mathematician's demand for existence be dismissed by the physicist as...