Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) said, "The universe cannot be read until we have learned the language and become familiar with the characters in which it is written. It is written in mathematical language, and the letters are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without which means it is humanly impossible to comprehend a single word. Without these, one is wandering about in a dark labyrinth."[12] Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) referred to mathematics as "the Queen of the Sciences."[13] Benjamin Peirce (1809–1880) called mathematics "the science that draws necessary conclusions."[14] David Hilbert said of mathematics: "We are not speaking here of arbitrariness.
