Mathematics is the Music of Reason

James Joseph Sylvester (1814–1897) coined more mathematical terms than any other mathematician: matrix, discriminant, invariant, covariant, totient, nullity. Working with Cayley, he founded the theory of algebraic invariants — quantities unchanged under coordinate transformations. He founded the American Journal of Mathematics in 1878, the first American mathematics research journal. Late in life, he also published a book of poetry. He wrote: 'Mathematics is the music of reason' — and lived it, believing the two were deeply connected.