Combinatorics Quotes & Sayings

We don't have enough parallel universes to allow all uses of all junction types
in the absence of quantum computing the combinatorics are not in our favor ... — Larry Wall

We have not begun to understand the relationship between combinatorics and conceptual mathematics. — Jean Dieudonne

Combinatorics, a sort of glorified dice-throwing. — Robert Kanigel

'You might think of combinatorics as a machine too', the major says. 'A different sort of machine, though. Have you heard of Babbage's analytic engine? He never built it ... I have an analytic machine of my own-right here.' He taps his own skull. — David Leavitt

Journalists say that when a dog bites a man, that is not news, but when a man bites a dog, that is news ... Thanks to the mathematics of combinatorics, we will never run out of news. — Steven Pinker

Counting pairs is the oldest trick in combinatorics ... Every time we count pairs, we learn something from it. — Gil Kalai

He was convinced this was a bribe, a kickback, to some Pentagon big shot, and he wanted proof. But that was a tall order, even to someone as brilliant as your brother. It's a little like understanding algebraic combinatorics if you still don't get long division. — Joseph Finder

Cryptography has generated number theory, algebraic geometry over finite fields, algebra, combinatorics and computers. — Vladimir Arnold

Computers are here to stay. It is a major challenge for the future to use computers efficiently in combinatorics without losing its special appeal. — Noga Alon

The emphasis on mathematical methods seems to be shifted more towards combinatorics and set theory - and away from the algorithm of differential equations which dominates mathematical physics. — John Von Neumann

If all abstract thought is metaphorical, and all metaphors are assembled out of biologically basic concepts, then we would have an explanation for the evolution of human intelligence. Human intelligence would be a product of metaphor and combinatorics. Metaphor allows the mind to use a few basic ideas-substance, location, force, goal-to understand more abstract domains. Combinatorics allows a finite set of simple ideas to give rise to an infinite set of complex ones. — Steven Pinker