The futility of contemplation

An ad for the business school at Cambridge quotes Jacob Bronowski, a renowned mathematician and biologist, who once said: "The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation." I assume he meant "grasp" in the sense of "grab" or "seize." How lucky we should count ourselves that his uplifting advice was taken to heart by the legions of mathematical wizzes who truly transformed the financial industry beyond recognition.