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Michael Atiyah Biography

Sir Michael Francis Atiyah OM FRS FRSE FMedSci FREng (/əˈtiːə/; born 22 April 1929) is an English mathematician specialising in geometry.

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Michael Atiyah Quotes

No one fully understands spinors. Their algebra is formally understood but their general significance is mysterious. In some sense they describe the 'square root' of geometry and, just as understanding the square root of -1 took centuries, the same might be true of spinors.

Algebra, Formally, Roots, Squares, True, Understanding

It is hard to communicate understanding because that is something you get by living with a problem for a long time. You study it, perhaps for years, you get the feel of it and it is in your bones. You can't convey that to anyone else. Having studied the problem for five years you may be able to present it in such a way that it would take somebody else less time to get to that point than it took you. But if they haven't struggled with the problem and seen all the pitfalls, then they haven't really understood it.

Long, Math, Somebody, Took, Years

Would you rather be deaf or blind?

Blind, Deaf

In the broad light of day mathematicians check their equations and their proofs, leaving no stone unturned in their search for rigour. But, at night, under the full moon, they dream, they float among the stars and wonder at the miracle of the heavens. They are inspired. Without dreams there is no art, no mathematics, no life.

Dream, Heavens, Inspirational, Life, Mathematicians, Rigour

I dislike frontiers, political or intellectual, and I find that ignoring them is an essential catalyst for creative thought. Ideas should flow without hindrance in their natural course.

Course, Creativity, Essential, Hindrance, Ideas, Imagination

Any good theorem should have several proofs, the more the better.

Good, Proof, Proofs, Should, Should Have, Theorem

I think it is said that Gauss had ten different proofs for the law of quadratic reciprocity. Any good theorem should have several proofs, the more the better. For two reasons: usually, different proofs have different strengths and weaknesses, and they generalise in different directions - they are not just repetitions of each other.

Several, Should Have, Ten, Theorem, Thinking, Two

If theory is the role of the architect, then such beautiful proofs are the role of the craftsman. Of course, as with the great renaissance artists, such roles are not mutually exclusive. A great cathedral has both structural impressiveness and delicate detail. A great mathematical theory should similarly be beautiful on both large and small scales.

Art, Beautiful, Beauty, Cathedral, Course, Impressiveness

There is no clear-cut distinction between example and theory

Cutting, Distinction, Example, Theory

I'm not the sort of person who does my mathematics writing on paper. I do that at the last stage of the game. I do my mathematics in my head. I sit down for a hard day's work and I write nothing all day. I just think. And I walk up and down because that helps keep me awake, it keeps the blood circulating, and I think and think.

Blood, Hard, Person, Stage, Thinking, Writing

Everything useful in mathematics has been devised for a purpose. Even if you don't know it, the guy who did it first, he knew what he was doing. Banach didn't just develop Banach spaces for the sake of it. He wanted to put many spaces under one heading. Without knowing the examples, the whole thing is pointless.

Know, Knowing, Math, Sake, Space

The aim of mathematics is to explain as much as possible in simple terms.

Aim, Mathematics, Possible, Simple, Term

If you attack a mathematical problem directly, very often you come to a dead end, nothing you do seems to work and you feel that if only you could peer round the corner there might be an easy solution. There is nothing like having somebody else beside you, because he can usually peer round the corner.

Might, Nothing, Peers, Problem, Somebody, Work