Quotes · Quote card
Quotation from The Method (Geometrical Solutions Derived from Mechanics) by Archimedes
“it is easier to establish a proof if one has in this way previously obtained a conception of the questions, than for him to seek it without such a preliminary notion.”
The Method (Geometrical Solutions Derived from Mechanics), Letter to Eratosthenes, trans. Lydia G. Robinson
Archimedes explains why a mechanical method of discovery is useful even though it does not itself prove anything.
Citation: "it is easier to establish a proof if one has in this way previously obtained a conception of the questions, than for him to seek it without such a preliminary notion." — Archimedes, The Method (Geometrical Solutions Derived from Mechanics), Letter to Eratosthenes, trans. Lydia G. Robinson. (id archimedes-the-method-q1)
Portrait: Domenico-Fetti Archimedes 1620, Domenico Fetti, Public domain.
