Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty—a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music, yet sublimely pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show.
- Bertrand Russel
see here's the thing - is anyone else really missing their degree?
i know i was, at best, a mediocre mathematician - managed to scrape good results but this was more a case of cannily going with my strengths (quantum mech - did a module in advanced QM as well as my dissertation) as well as ridiculously easy subjects (mathematical finance - essentially recap of numerical algebra with some stocks and shares thrown in) and stuff i'd done before (partial differential equations - did a module on differential equations/numerical algebra for 2nd, 3rd and 4th year).
so yeah, i'm not a bonafide mathematical whizz, just a dumb kid who's sorta good with numbers, lacking that special connection in the head which enables you to just... see it y'know? and to do more than just see it - to go beyond that to the underlying intent - to the soul of the matter
if i may be so bold i'd like to compare the mathematical genius to an artist or poet - you get the feeling with these people that it doesn't matter what the circumstances of their life may be - they are compelled to act as they do - for them it's merely an expression of self to paint a masterpiece, compose a sonnet or deduce an insanely glorious proof.
i am not the best person to speak upon this subject, i know my weaknesses in this area, but, god dammit, sometimes you have a proof, constructed upon a line of reasoning so icy in it's clarity, so elegant in it's undertaking, so gobsmackingly audacious in it's ambitions that you can do no more than smile in awe
seriously kids, maths is cool, stay off the smack
God used beautiful mathematics in creating the world
- Paul Dirac
If I understand Dirac correctly, his meaning is this: there is no God, and Dirac is his Prophet
- Wolfgang Pauli
hehe, btw i *heart* Dirac
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2 comments:
Um. I wrote something but it disappeared.
:-(
Help computer boy, help!
I miss being good at things.
Does Google now own Blogger?
You are SUCH a geek. I know you just graduated a wee 9 months ago but seriously: Let. It. Go.
Haha. Just kidding, I really enjoyed that post, especially the fabulous Bertrand Russell quote - a man after my own heart, albeit a man with an IQ roughly 2672 times of my own. Sigh.
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