James Joseph Sylvester (1814-1897) was a prominent English mathematician who made significant contributions to several algebraic disciplines, including matrix theory. The name “matrices” is, in fact, his invention; Sylvester used to joke that he was a kind of mathematical Adam, for he created almost as much mathematical terminology as the first man must have created to name the flora and fauna of paradise. The physicist Edward Teller told in his book The pursuit of simplicity what Sylvester saw as the difference between science and mathematics:
Science tries to find logic and simplicity in nature. Mathematics tries to establish order and simplicity in human thought.
I am not sure if another famous Sylvester, Sylvester Stallone in this case, has read The pursuit of simplicity, but the fact is that in the opening episode of one of his landmark works, Rocky I, he exemplified with great intellectual stature the other Sylvester’s quote about the usefulness of mathematics in simplifying human thinking:
If you hang out with nice people you will have nice friends; if you hang out with smart people you will have smart friends; while if you hang out with yo-yos you will have yo-yos for friends. You see, it’s simple mathematics.
(Unfortunately, in the Spanish version, the translators eliminated this erudite wink (perhaps to avoid affecting the box office) and translated the original “You see, simple mathematics”, for a more orthodox and tougher “Es así, no le des más vueltas (It is so, don’t think twice)”).
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