Walter Warwick Sawyer Quotes

8 Sourced Quotes

Most remarks made by children consist of correct ideas very badly expressed. A good teacher will be very wary of saying 'No, that's wrong.' Rather, he will try to discover the correct idea behind the inadequate expression. This is one of the most important principles in the whole of the art of teaching.

Walter Warwick Sawyer
Bad teaching is teaching which presents an endless procession of meaningless signs, words and rules, and fails to arouse the imagination.

Walter Warwick Sawyer
The desire to explore thus marks out the mathematician. This is one of the forces making for the growth of mathematics. The mathematician enjoys what he already knows; he is eager for more knowledge.

Walter Warwick Sawyer
You know what speed is. You would not believe a man who claimed to walk at 5 miles an hour, but took 3 hours to walk 6 miles. You have only to apply the same common sense to stones rolling down hillsides, and the calculus is at your command.

Walter Warwick Sawyer
In mathematics, if a pattern occurs, we can go on to ask, Why does it occur? What does it signify? And we can find answers to these questions. In fact, for every pattern that appears, a mathematician feels he ought to know why it appears.

Walter Warwick Sawyer
The scientist who uses mathematics should be aware that much new mathematical knowledge is being discovered; nearly all of it will be irrelevant to his research, but he should keep his eyes open for the small piece that may be of great value to him.

Walter Warwick Sawyer
A point that should be borne in mind is that, generally speaking, higher mathematics is simpler than elementary mathematics. To explore a thicket on foot is a troublesome business; from an aeroplane the task is easier.

Walter Warwick Sawyer
Very few people realize the enormous bulk of contemporary mathematics. Probably it would be easier to learn all the languanges of the world than to master all mathematics at present known.

Walter Warwick Sawyer