Don’t follow the maths out the window

Maxims and arrows Go Premium A hearty collection of the JC’s pithiest adages. Index: Click ᐅ to expand: Maxim Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Requests? Insults? We’d love to 📧 hear from you. Sign up for our newsletter.

Don’t follow the maths out the window

—James Gleick

A beautiful expression, articulated by Gleick in his tremendous book Time Travel, to make the point that theory is all fine and dandy, but the intractable real world has a way of confounding the most intricate predictions. Don’t jump out the window just because the mathematics tell you the parabolic curve you prescribe will see you right. Look first.

From the same stable as the observation no fielder catches a ball by performing differential equations.