Mathematics is an interesting intellectual sport but it should not be allowed to stand in the way of obtaining sensible information about physical processes.
Richard HammingTrue greatness is when your name is like ampere, watt, and fourier-when it's spelled with a lower case letter.
Richard HammingThere are wavelengths that people cannot see, there are sounds that people cannot hear, and maybe computers have thoughts that people cannot think.
Richard HammingIf you don't work on important problems, it's not likely that you'll do important work.
Richard HammingMost of the time each person is immersed in the details of one special part of the whole and does not think of how what they are doing relates to the larger picture. For example, in education, a teacher might say in the next class he was going to "explain Young's modulus and how to measure it," rather than, "I am going to educate the students and prepare them for their future careers".
Richard Hamming