If I have misquoted Einstein, then you'd better inform the webmasters of the following sites:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/q102390.html

http://www.medialabeurope.org/people/b-duffy/

http://stripe.colorado.edu/~judy/einstein/science.html

http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Quotations/Einstein.html

http://members.aol.com/AlbrechtGd/math.htm

I know you're probably accustomed to seeing Eugene Wigner cited as originator of this thought, but it was Albert who first uttered it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is a longer transcript from the 1921 speech:

"At this point an enigma presented itself which, in all ages, has agitated inquiring minds. How can it be that mathematics, being after all a product of human thought which is independent of experience, is so admirably appropriate to the objects of reality? Is human reason, then, without experience, merely by taking thought, able to fathom the properties of real things?

In my opinion the answer to this question is briefly this: As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality."

Einstein is smiling.

;)

• Well, happy me. - pmartin - October 22, 2001 - 22:48 UTC
• Einstein and metaphysics - thom_cl - October 23, 2001 - 12:55 UTC