Review: A treasure trove for mathematicians

9 April 1994

‘No more impressive warning can be given to those who would confine
knowledge and research to what is apparently useful, than the reflection
that conic sections were studied for eighteen hundred years merely as an
abstract science, without regard to any utility other than to satisfy the
craving for knowledge on the part of mathematicians, and that then at the
end of this long period of abstract study, they were found to be the necessary
key with which to attain the knowledge of the most important laws of nature,’
said A. N. Whitehead in 1911, referring to the essential part played by
an understanding of conic sections in fields as diverse as astronomy and
military technology. His sentiments are still pertinent as a defence of
pure science and his words appear in Memorabilia Mathematica: The Philomath’s
Quotation Book (The Mathematical Association of America, Washington DC,
pp 410, $24 pbk). Robert Moritz collected 2160 quotations about maths from
definitions to poetic responses. First published in 1914 to supply exact
references, it is a pleasure to dip into, as well useful for hunting down
a quote.