Quotes by Richard Hamming

Richard Hamming

A parable: A man was examining the construction of a cathedral. He asked a stone mason what he was doing chipping the stones, and the mason replied, “I am making stones.” He asked a stone carver what he was doing. “I am carving a gargoyle.” And so it went, each person said in detail what they were doing. Finally he came to an old woman who was sweeping the ground. She said. “I am helping build a cathedral.” …Most of the time each person is immersed in the details of one special part of the whole and does not think of how what they are doing relates to the larger picture.

Men

Science

Thinking

Beware of finding what you’re looking for. A favorite aphorism he often used.

Aphorism

Research

Science

Computer scientists stand on each other’s feet.

Computer

Feet

Scientist

Does anyone believe that the difference between the Lebesgue and Riemann integrals can have physical significance, and that whether say, an airplane would or would not fly could depend on this difference? If such were claimed, I should not care to fly in that plane.

Airplane

Believe

Math

Given two people with exactly the same ability, the one person who manages day in and day out to get in one more hour of thinking will be tremendously more productive over a lifetime.

People

Thinking

Two

Good teachers deserve apples; great teachers deserve chocolate. A favorite quotation, written in calligraphy on his office door.

Apples

Doors

Teacher

He who works with the door open gets all kinds of interruptions, but he also occasionally gets clues as to what the world is and what might be important.

Doors

Hard Work

Science

I have tried, with little success, to get some of my friends to understand my amazement that the abstraction of integers for counting is both possible and useful. Is it not remarkable that 6 sheep plus 7 sheep makes 13 sheep; that 6 stones plus 7 stones make 13 stones? Is it not a miracle that the universe is so constructed that such a simple abstraction as a number is possible? To me this is one of the strongest examples of the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics. Indeed, I find it both strange and unexplainable.

Effectiveness

Numbers

Simple

If the prior distribution, at which I am frankly guessing, has little or no effect on the result, then why bother; and if it has a large effect, then since I do not know what I am doing how would I dare act on the conclusions drawn?

Guessing

Littles

Results

If you don’t work on important problems, it’s not likely that you’ll do important work.

Hard Work

Important

Problem

Follow The Behaviour University in order to get the greatest quotes from the greatest people of all time so that you can tap into your own greatness.

Airplane

Aphorism

Apples

Art

Authority

Believe

Careers

Change

Characteristics

Competition

Computer

Creative

Data

Differences

Doing You

Doors

Effectiveness

Engineering

Errors

Essentials

Favors

Feet

Fields

Giants

Greatness

Guessing

Hard Work

Important

Inspirational

Intellectual

Interesting

Knowledge

Law

Learning

Littles

Luck

Math

Mathematics

Men

Mind

Names

Numbers

Office

Opportunity

Our Society

People

Problem

Real

Research

Results

The Future Blueprint

Tool

The Home Therapist: Anti Anxiety

Tool

The Autobiography

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The Behaviour Diary

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The Dating Diary

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The Relationship Therapist

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Quotes by Richard Hamming

Richard Hamming

Beware of finding what you’re looking for. A favorite aphorism he often used.

Computer scientists stand on each other’s feet.

Does anyone believe that the difference between the Lebesgue and Riemann integrals can have physical significance, and that whether say, an airplane would or would not fly could depend on this difference? If such were claimed, I should not care to fly in that plane.

Given two people with exactly the same ability, the one person who manages day in and day out to get in one more hour of thinking will be tremendously more productive over a lifetime.

Good teachers deserve apples; great teachers deserve chocolate. A favorite quotation, written in calligraphy on his office door.

He who works with the door open gets all kinds of interruptions, but he also occasionally gets clues as to what the world is and what might be important.

If the prior distribution, at which I am frankly guessing, has little or no effect on the result, then why bother; and if it has a large effect, then since I do not know what I am doing how would I dare act on the conclusions drawn?

If you don’t work on important problems, it’s not likely that you’ll do important work.

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Topics by Richard Hamming

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The Future Blueprint

The Home Therapist: Anti Anxiety

The Autobiography

The Behaviour Diary

The Dating Diary

The Relationship Therapist

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