3 ms·
Did those proofs have to be novel, or were the proofs of already known concepts?
by dsp1234 9y ago
Did those proofs have to be novel, or were the proofs of already known concepts?
- alphaalpha101 9y agoOf course they have to be novel! You aren't allowed to just copy them off someone else.
- vecter 9y agoI'm sure those proofs at the time were novel to the student but obviously not the professor who assigned the problem. That's how the student learns.
- mcphage 9y agoNovel to the student up to a point—math students are taught a variety of proof techniques in each of their subjects, theorems that students are required to prove generally fall to very similar techniques.
- umanwizard 9y agoThey have to be novel in my experience. I have a BS in Mathematics from a mediocre school (University of Arizona) and exams were always "prove this fact (which you have never heard of before)", never "what is the proof of XYZ theorem (which we studied)"
- posterboy 9y agothere is so much room for questions, it's quicker to write the proof than to search an answer. And a readily found answer would, for undergrad, less likely be in proof form, or too distinct for specific topics later on. And the instructor might become suspicious and interogate you, in which case, if the material helped you to understand, that's the point.