"There is no particular mystery about mathematical analysis; its only distinguishing feature is that it is more trustworthy, more precise, and permits us to proceed farther and along safer lines. Consider, for example, the well-known change of colour from red to white displayed by the light radiated through an aperture made in a heated enclosure, as the temperature increases. From this elementary fact of observation Planck, thanks to mathematical analysis, was able to deduce the existence of light quanta and thence the possibility that all processes of change were discontinuous, and that a body could only rotate with definite speeds. Obviously, commonplace reasoning unaided by mathematics would never have led us even to suspect these extraordinary results."
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Academics from GermanyPhysicists from GermanyPoliticians from GermanyDeistsNobel laureates from Germany
Original Language: English
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Sources
A. D'Abro, The Evolution of Scientific Thought from Newton to Einstein (1927) Foreword.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_Planck
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