IV

Illuminations

There are two kinds of light—the glow that illumines, and the glare that obscures.

—James Thurber, American author, humorist, and cartoonist1

 

What distinguishes a mathematical model from, say, a poem, a song, a portrait or any other kind of “model,” is that the mathematical model is an image or picture of reality painted with logical symbols instead of with words, sounds or watercolors.

—John L. Casti, contemporary mathematician, complexity theory scientist, author2