A Legendary Problem

02007-05-05 | Uncategorized | 2 comments

Annals of Mathematics: Manifold Destiny: The New Yorker
A legendary problem and the battle over who solved it.

Great read. Fantastic story!

2 Comments

  1. Will

    It was a great read. One is concerned about the fame and notary and the other is concerned with just fulfilling the task at hand. I wonder how much more would get done if we drop our ego and focus on what needs to be done.

    Some notable quotes:

    Grigory Perelman–“If everyone is honest, it is natural to share ideas.”

    Grigory Perelman–“My reasoning was: if I made an error and someone used my work to construct a correct proof I would be pleased. I never set out to be the sole solver of the Poincare”

    Mikhail Gromov– “To do great work, you have to have a pure mind. You can think only about the mathematics. Everything else is human weakness. Accepting prizes is showing weakness……The ideal scientist does science and cares about nothing else. He wants to live this ideal. Now, I don’t think he lives on this ideal plane. But he wants to”

    Reply
  2. Alex

    Thank you for making me aware of that article Ottmar, I just finished reading it, very interesting indeed.

    Reply

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