G. H. Hardy Quotes
I propose to put forward an apology for mathematics; and I may be told that it needs none, since there are now few studies more generally recognized, for good reasons or bad, as profitable and praiseworthy.
Hardy, G. H. A Mathematician's Apology. Cambridge University Press, 1940.
Shortly thereafte,r he presented a a proof that any sufficiently large integer can be written as a sum of 1046 tenth powers – a fascinating finding that has proved of absolutely no socially utilitarian use. Congress and State Legislators beccome upset when public money is spent on new mathematial advances that don't seem to have any practical utility. However, much abstract mathematics was developed many years before society discovered that they were useful and in many cases invaluable. Also, even when a new mathematical creation never has any utility, it often leads to a more advanced form of mathematics for which there are useful applications.
After leading the Congress Party to a stunning upset victory in the National elections of 2004, she was expected to become the Prime Minister as party leaders usually do. However, she remained as Party Leader but declined to serve as Prime Minister. Her husband and mother-in-law had both been assassinated while they were Prime Ministers, and she, being born in Italy, particularly irked the most conservative, nationalist element who had been responsible for the two previous assassinations.
Godfrey Harold Hardy FRS was an English mathematician, known for his achievements in number theory and mathematical analysis. In biology, he is known for the Hardy–Weinberg principle, a basic principle of population genetics.
