3 ms·
That passage reminded me of a remark by the 2002 French Fields Medalist Laurent Lafforgue: "My specificity today among French mathematicians is not to know mor
by buchoo 4y ago
That passage reminded me of a remark by the 2002 French Fields Medalist Laurent Lafforgue:
"My specificity today among French mathematicians is not to know more mathematics than others, I can even admit that I know less mathematics than most French and foreign mathematicians. It's not about being 'great' either, I'm not great at all, on the contrary I have a rather slow mind. When I listen to a seminar, I'm probably one of those who understand the least what is being said: an idea in an hour, for me, that's already a lot. No, the only explanation for the successes that I have been able to obtain in mathematics is my being imbued by the reading of the great classics."
https://www.biennale-lf.org/b22/index.php?p=https://www.biennale-lf.org/b22/laurent-lafforgue.html https://www.biennale-lf.org/b22/index.php?p=https://www.bien...
As for your experience, you are indeed very far from alone.
- ask_b123 4y agoI wonder which great classics would those be.
- buchoo 4y agoNot very specific, but he says: "In my parents' house, there were a lot of books: all the great authors of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, translated foreign authors. I spent my youth, and still today I spend most of my time, reading literary works, and particularly those of French literature."
- adamsmith143 4y agoHe totally learned Abstract Algebra from Dumas.
- Agingcoder 4y agoThanks, this made made laugh :-)
- ttonelli 4y agoThanks, this made me re-read parent more carefully, which then made me laugh :)
- Viliam1234 4y agoThe Three Musketeers -- Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan If this doesn't make you think about math, nothing will.