Augustin-Louis Cauchy
Rigorized calculus and founded complex analysis
Most quoted
"I am a Christian, that is to say, I believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ, like Bossuet and Pascal, like Corneille and Racine, and like so many other great men who have been illustrious in the sciences and in letters. The more I study nature, the more I am amazed at the works of the Creator. The more I study mathematics, the more I admire the wisdom of God."
"The mean value theorem for derivatives states that if a function is continuous on a closed interval and differentiable on the open interval, then there exists at least one point in the open interval where the derivative of the function is equal to the average rate of change of the function over the interval."
— from Cours d'Analyse de l'École Royale Polytechnique, 1821
"A function is continuous if, for every value of the variable between given limits, the numerical value of the difference between two successive values of the function becomes indefinitely small with the numerical value of the difference between the corresponding values of the variable."
— from Cours d'Analyse, 1821
All quotes by Augustin-Louis Cauchy (546)
Errors are not in the art, but in the artificers.
The most important questions of life are, for the most part, really only problems of probability.
Mathematics is the queen of the sciences and arithmetic the queen of mathematics. She often condescends to render service to astronomy and other natural sciences, but in all relations, she is entitled to the first rank.
It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.
The true method of discovery is like the flight of an eagle, not the crawl of a worm.
One must not imagine that the mathematical sciences are dry and arid. On the contrary, they are full of poetry and beauty.
The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems.
The value of a problem is not so much in coming up with the answer, but in the process of solving it.
There is no royal road to geometry.
The most profound observations are often the simplest.
Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.
The only way to learn mathematics is to do mathematics.
It is by logic that we prove, but by intuition that we discover.
The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge.
One must always be prepared to abandon a favorite idea for a better one.
Mathematics is the language in which God has written the universe.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.
The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful.
Contemporaries of Augustin-Louis Cauchy
Other Mathematicss born within 50 years of Augustin-Louis Cauchy (1789–1857).