Quotations

Émile Borel


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Probabilities must be regarded as analogous to the measurement of physical magnitudes; that is to say, they can never be known exactly, but only within certain approximation.
Probabilities and Life
One grain of wheat does not constitute a pile, nor do two grains, nor three and so on. On the other hand, everyone will agree that a hundred million grains of wheat do form a pile. What then is the threshold number? Can we say that 325,647 grains of wheat do not form a pile, but that 325,648 grains do? If it is impossible to fix a threshold number, it will also be impossible to know what is meant by a pile of wheat; the words can have no meaning, although, in certain extreme cases everybody will agree about them.
Probability and Certainty
The goal of geometry is to study those properties of bodies which can be considered independent of their matter, but only with respect their dimensions and forms. Geometry measures the surface of a field without bothering to find if the soil is good or bad.
Geometry