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Sir Andrew Wiles On the Struggle and Beauty of Mathematics

posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday December 06 2017, @12:11AM   Printer-friendly
from the but-this-submission-is-too-small-to-contain-it dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

One of the world's greatest mathematicians, Sir Andrew Wiles, made a rare public appearance in the Science Museum this week to discuss his latest research, his belief in the value of struggle, and how to inspire the next generation.
...
Terms such as 'elegance' and 'beauty' are bandied around by many mathematicians. What do they mean? They are hard to explain but Sir Andrew likened the mathematical equivalent of experiencing the rapture of beauty to walking down a path to explore a garden by the great landscape architect Capability Brown, when a breathtaking vista suddenly beckons. In other words, elegance in mathematics 'is this surprise element of suddenly see everything clarified and beautiful.'

But you should 'not stare at it non-stop', he warned, else the majesty will fade, as is also the case with great paintings and music.

Today he is still walking through the great garden of mathematics, 'the language of science,' he said. Another way Sir Andrew described his lifelong passion to the rapt audience was as a 'beautiful edifice...the most permanent thing there is.'

Industry and government realise that mathematicians are the lifeblood of a modern economy but are concerned by the lack of uptake of maths. Most young people 'do have a real appetite for mathematics', said Sir Andrew, but they are put off because, he believes, their teachers are not viscerally interested in the subject.

Sir Andrew Wiles famously proved Fermat's Last Theorem.

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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by aristarchus on Wednesday December 06 2017, @06:12AM (3 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday December 06 2017, @06:12AM (#606006) Journal

    I recommend Lockhart's Lament [maa.org] to everyone. Math teacher who sees the truth. A sample:

    What is happening is the systematic undermining of the student’s intuition. A proof, that is,
    a mathematical argument, is a work of fiction, a poem. Its goal is to satisfy. A beautiful proof
    should explain, and it should explain clearly, deeply, and elegantly. A well-written, well-crafted
    argument should feel like a splash of cool water, and be a beacon of light— it should refresh the
    spirit and illuminate the mind. And it should be charming.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +4  
       Insightful=2, Interesting=2, Overrated=1, Underrated=1, Total=6
    Extra 'Interesting' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   5  

  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 06 2017, @02:15PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 06 2017, @02:15PM (#606129)

    Math proofs can be beautiful to those who find math beautiful.
    To those who don't, it's just a tedious bunch of statements culminating in an uninteresting result.
    Beauty is subjective, interest is personal.

    Even within math there is personal taste. I find calculus very interesting and elegant, but matrix algebra always struck me as kludgey and boring.

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 06 2017, @09:21PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 06 2017, @09:21PM (#606415)

      I pity the fool who doesn't find at least one of these topics interesting:

      * Are there infinite prime numbers?
      * Is there always another number between 2 (different) numbers?
      * How to identify and rank influences in a large, possibly incomplete dataset? (Netflix problem)

      The last one relates to your matrix algebra objection.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 10 2017, @05:44PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 10 2017, @05:44PM (#608021)

        Are there infinite prime numbers?

        Yes

        Is there always another number between 2 (different) numbers?

        Yes

        NEXT!