Address on the Study of Mathematics #250204

N ow, in mathematical reasoning there is none of this doubt. Hence, its superiority as a means of men tal discipline over moral reasoning. We here begin with axioms self-evident to every intellect, and arrive at the most important conclusions, and all along the whole ascent, not a doubt springs up in the mind lest the outset may have been wrong. We rise by a series of equations or ratios, which follow each other necessarily, to the sublime discoveries which occupied the attention of a Descartes or a Newton. We begin by measuring the lot on which we build our cottage and ascend till we seat ourselves among the stars and contemplate the mechanism of the heavens.