Richard P. Feynman Quotes
Mathematics is a language plus reasoning. It's like a language plus logic. Mathematics is a tool for reasoning.
Feynman, Richard P. The Character of Physical Law. MIT Press, 1967, p. 57.
Feynman generally emphasized the importance of a scientist understanding the mathematics of his/her subject, especially where nature's complexities abounded. At the time few appreciated the importance in the biological sciences of mathematics which we know today is so essential.
Mathematical analysis is a much sounder method for determining truth than argument but it only is applicable where the real world fits the mathematical structures that we have which unfortunately is not enough to answer most of the political questions facing us.
Even today, the lack of logic in many fields—especial politics and public policy—has caused an intellectual and emotional rift between scientists and many in government. Bush was one of the great scientists and thinkers in American history. He had advised FDR to go ahead with the research and development program to try and develop an atomic bomb. He was the only Government Official who Roosevelt discussed the idea with. At the time, Bush as a government official supervised and directed many thousands of scientists, and was one of just a few scientists who monitored and advised on the Manhattan Project to develop the Bomb.
Richard Phillips Feynman was an American theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize winner who made significant contributions to quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics, and particle physics. He's known for his work on the Manhattan Project, developing Feynman diagrams, and explaining the interactions between light and matter. While studying for his PhD, Feynman participated in the Manhattan Project and helped develop the atomic bomb. For contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 jointly with Julian Schwinger and Shin'ichirō Tomonaga.
