Ronald Graham Quotes

2 Sourced Quotes

Some people think that mathematics is a serious business that must always be cold and dry; but we think mathematics is fun, and we aren't ashamed to admit the fact. Why should a strict boundary line be drawn between work and play? Concrete mathematics is full of appealing patterns; the manipulations are not always easy, but the answers can be astonishingly attractive.

Ronald Graham

Incidentally, when we're faced with a "prove or disprove," we're usually better off trying first to disprove with a counterexample, for two reasons: A disproof is potentially easier (we need just one counterexample); and nitpicking arouses our creative juices. Even if the given assertion is true, our search for a counterexample often leads to a proof, as soon as we see why a counterexample is impossible. Besides, it's healthy to be skeptical.

Ronald Graham

Ronald Graham

Creative Commons

Born: October 31, 1935 (age 84)

Bio: Ronald Lewis "Ron" Graham is a mathematician credited by the American Mathematical Society as being "one of the principal architects of the rapid development worldwide of discrete mathematics in recent years".

Known for:

Concrete Mathematics (1994)
Rudiments of Ramsey theory (1981)
Ramsey Theory (1980)

Ronald Graham on Wikipedia

Suggest an edit or a new quote

American Mathematician Quotes

Mathematician Quotes

20th-century Mathematician Quotes