Henri Poincare Quotes
Jules Henri Poincare was a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, and philosopher of science, often described as the last universalist of mathematics. He made foundational contributions to topology, dynamical systems, and special relativity, and his philosophical essays on the methodology of mathematics and the natural sciences, collected in Science and Hypothesis, The Value of Science, and Science and Method, helped to inaugurate modern philosophy of science. The quotes below are attributed to Henri Poincare, organized by topic.
Henri Poincare on Knowledge
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Attributed to Henri Poincare:
“Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.”
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Attributed to Henri Poincare:
“Science is built up of facts, as a house is built of stones; but an accumulation of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.”
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Attributed to Henri Poincare:
“Doubt everything or believe everything; both are equally convenient devices for not having to think.”
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Attributed to Henri Poincare:
“It is by logic that we prove, but by intuition that we discover.”
Henri Poincare on Nature
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Attributed to Henri Poincare:
“The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it.”