"The great masters of modern analysis are Lagrange, Laplace, and Gauss, who were contemporaries. It is interesting to note the marked contrast in their styles. Lagrange is perfect both in form and matter, he is careful to explain his procedure, and though his arguments are general they are easy to follow. Laplace on the other hand explains nothing, is indifferent to style, and, if satisfied that his results are correct, is content to leave them either with no proof or with a faulty one. Gauss is as exact and elegant as Lagrange, but even more difficult to follow than Laplace, for he removes every trace of the analysis by which he reached his results, and studies to give a proof which while rigorous shall be as concise and synthetical as possible."
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University of Cambridge alumniUniversity of Cambridge facultyMathematicians from EnglandLawyers from EnglandPeople from London
Original Language: English
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W. W. Rouse Ball, History of Mathematics, (London, 1901), p. 463;
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._W._Rouse_Ball
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W. W. Rouse Ball
Walter William Rouse Ball, known as W. W. Rouse Ball (14 August 1850 – 4 April 1925), was a British mathematician, lawyer, and fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge from 1878 to 1905.
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