" There are very few things which we know, which are not capable of being reduc'd to a Mathematical Reasoning; and when they cannot it's a sign our knowledge of them is very small and confus'd; and when a Mathematical Reasoning can be had it's as great a folly to make use of any other, as to grope for a thing in the dark, when you have a Candle standing by you. "

― John Arbuthnot , The Life and Works of John Arbuthnot ... by G. A. Aitken. [With a Bibliography.]