Henri Poincaré
Legacy
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When philosopher and mathematician [[Bertrand Russell]] was asked who was the greatest man that [[France]] had produced in modern times, he instantly replied "Poincaré". Bell noted that if Poincaré had been as strong in practical science as he was in theoretical, he might have "made a fourth with the incomparable three, [[Archimedes]], [[Isaac Newton|Newton]], and [[Carl Friedrich Gauss|Gauss]]." |
When philosopher and mathematician [[Bertrand Russell]] was asked who was the greatest man that [[France]] had produced in modern times, he instantly replied "Poincaré". Bell noted that if Poincaré had been as strong in practical science as he was in theoretical, he might have "made a fourth with the incomparable three, [[Archimedes]], [[Isaac Newton|Newton]], and [[Carl Friedrich Gauss|Gauss]]." |
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Bell further noted his powerful memory, one that was even superior to [[Leonhard Euler]]'s, stating that:{{Cite book |last=Bell |first=E.T. |author-link=Eric Temple Bell |url=https://archive.org/details/menofmathematics0002etbe_e2q2/page/587 |title=Men of Mathematics |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |year=1937 |volume=II |pages=587 |language=en}} |
Bell further noted his powerful memory, one that was even superior to [[Leonhard Euler]]'s, stating that:{{Cite book |last=Bell |first=E.T. |author-link=Eric Temple Bell |url=https://archive.org/details/menofmathematics0002etbe_e2q2/page/587 |title=Men of Mathematics |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |year=1937 |volume=II |pages=587 |language=en}}{{Unreliable source?|date=April 2026}} |
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{{blockquote|His principal diversion was reading, where his unusual talents first showed up. A book once read - at incredible speed - became a permanent possession, and he could always state the page and line where a particular thing occurred. He retained this powerful memory all his life. This rare faculty, which Poincaré shared with Euler who had it in a lesser degree, might be called visual or spatial memory. In temporal memory - the ability to recall with uncanny precision a sequence of events long passed — he was also unusually strong.}} |
{{blockquote|His principal diversion was reading, where his unusual talents first showed up. A book once read - at incredible speed - became a permanent possession, and he could always state the page and line where a particular thing occurred. He retained this powerful memory all his life. This rare faculty, which Poincaré shared with Euler who had it in a lesser degree, might be called visual or spatial memory. In temporal memory - the ability to recall with uncanny precision a sequence of events long passed — he was also unusually strong.}} |
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