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Foreshadowings of the principles and even of the language of [the infinitesimal] calculus can be found in the writings of Napier, Kepler, Cavalieri, Pascal, Fermat, Wallis, and Barrow. It was Newton's good luck to come at a time when everything was ripe for the discovery, and his ability enabled him to construct almost at once a complete calculus.
History of Mathematics (3rd Ed., 1901), 366.
See also: | Ability (11) | Anecdote (14) | Isaac Barrow (6) | Calculus (12) | Calculus (12) | Discovery (166) | Enable (2) | Pierre de Fermat (3) | Johannes Kepler (35) | Language (38) | John Napier (2) | Sir Isaac Newton (82) | Blaise Pascal (10) | Principle (31) | Publication (60)
The sciences do not try to explain, they hardly even try to interpret, they mainly make models. By a model is meant a mathematical construct which, with the addition of certain verbal interpretations, describes observed phenomena. The justification of such a mathematical construct is solely and precisely that it is expected to work—that is, correctly to describe phenomena from a reasonably wide area.
'Method in the Physical Sciences', in The Unity of Knowledge, editted by L. Leary (1955), 158. Reprinted in John Von Neumann, F. Bródy (ed.) and Tibor Vámos (ed.), The Neumann Compendium (2000), 628.
See also: | Explanation (20) | Interpretation (14) | Justification (4) | Mathematics (221) | Model (13) | Observation (142) | Phenomenon (25) | Science (444)
