Person

Josiah Willard Gibbs

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Notable quotes

“One of the principal objects of theoretical research is to find the point of view from which the subject appears in the greatest simplicity.”
— From Gibbs's letter accepting the Rumford Medal (1881). Quoted in A. L. Mackay, Dictionary of Scientific Quotations (London, 1994).
“His true monument lies not on the shelves of libraries, but in the thoughts of men, and in the history of more than one science.”
— From Gibbs's obituary for Rudolf Clausius (1889). See The Collected Works of J. Willard Gibbs, vol. 2 (New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1928), p. 267. Complete volume
“We avoid the gravest difficulties when, giving up the attempt to frame hypotheses concerning the constitution of matter, we pursue statistical inquiries as a branch of rational mechanics.”
— From the preface to Elementary Principles in Statististical Mechanics (1902), p. ix.
“Anyone having these desires will make these researches.”
— About his own scientific work. Quoted in Muriel Rukeyser, Willard Gibbs (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1942), p. 431.
“A mathematician may say anything he pleases, but a physicist must be at least partially sane.”
— Quoted in R. B. Lindsay, "On the Relation of Mathematics and Physics," Scientific Monthly 59, 456 (Dec. 1944)
“If I have had any success in mathematical physics, it is, I think, because I have been able to dodge mathematical difficulties.”
— Quoted by C. S. Hastings in "Biographical Memoir of Josiah Willard Gibbs 1839-1903," National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoirs, vol. VI (Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, 1909), p. 390. Complete memoir

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

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Notable quotes

“One of the principal objects of theoretical research is to find the point of view from which the subject appears in the greatest simplicity.”
— From Gibbs's letter accepting the Rumford Medal (1881). Quoted in A. L. Mackay, Dictionary of Scientific Quotations (London, 1994).
“His true monument lies not on the shelves of libraries, but in the thoughts of men, and in the history of more than one science.”
— From Gibbs's obituary for Rudolf Clausius (1889). See The Collected Works of J. Willard Gibbs, vol. 2 (New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1928), p. 267. Complete volume
“We avoid the gravest difficulties when, giving up the attempt to frame hypotheses concerning the constitution of matter, we pursue statistical inquiries as a branch of rational mechanics.”
— From the preface to Elementary Principles in Statististical Mechanics (1902), p. ix.
“Anyone having these desires will make these researches.”
— About his own scientific work. Quoted in Muriel Rukeyser, Willard Gibbs (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1942), p. 431.
“A mathematician may say anything he pleases, but a physicist must be at least partially sane.”
— Quoted in R. B. Lindsay, "On the Relation of Mathematics and Physics," Scientific Monthly 59, 456 (Dec. 1944)
“If I have had any success in mathematical physics, it is, I think, because I have been able to dodge mathematical difficulties.”
— Quoted by C. S. Hastings in "Biographical Memoir of Josiah Willard Gibbs 1839-1903," National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoirs, vol. VI (Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, 1909), p. 390. Complete memoir

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.