Richard Hamming quotes
Richard Hamming was an American mathematician and computer scientist celebrated for his work in information theory. His invention of the Hamming code greatly advanced error detection and correction in digital communications. He also made significant contributions to numerical analysis and the philosophy of science. Here are 102 of his quotes:
Besides the theory there are a lot of small technical details that must be learned so well that you can recall them almost instantaneously, such as the trigonometric identities... put one part of the identity on one side of a 3 x 5 card and the other part on the other side. Using these flash cards you can, in the odd moments of your daily life, learn the mechanical parts of the course. ...for this kind of low-level material many short learning sessions are much more efficient than a few long, intense ones; but this is not necessarily true for larger ideas. ...most students will not use such trivial devices as flash cards; it seems to be beneath their dignity. They suffer accordingly.
Richard Hamming
Apparently an "art"-which almost by definition cannot be put into words-is probably best communicated by approaching it from many sides and doing so repeatedly, hoping thereby students will finally master enough of the art, or if you wish, style, to significantly increase their future contributions to society.
Richard Hamming
Somewhere in the mid-to-late 1950s in an address to the President and V. Ps of Bell Laboratories I said, "At present we are doing 1 out of 10 experiments on the computers and 9 in the labs, but before I leave it will be 9 out of 10 on the machines". They did not believe me... by now we do somewhere between 90% to 99% on the machines... And this trend will go on!
Richard Hamming
You ought to try to make significant contributions to humanity rather than just get along through life comfortably... the life of trying to achieve excellence in some area is in itself a worthy goal... A life without a struggle on your part to make yourself excellent is hardly a life worth living. ...a life without such a goal... is merely existing...
Richard Hamming
Richard Hamming
Occupation: American MathematicianBorn: February 11, 1915
Died: January 7, 1998
Quotes count: 102
Wikipedia: Richard Hamming
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