Galileo was no idiot. Only an idiot could believe that science requires martyrdom - that may be necessary in religion, but in time a scientific result will establish itself.
David HilbertGeometry, like arithmetic, requires for its logical development only a small number of simple, fundamental principles. These fundamental principles are called the axioms of geometry.
David HilbertThe arithmetical symbols are written diagrams and the geometrical figures are graphic formulas.
David Hilbert