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> I'm surprised there aren't more comments on this on Hacker News considering it's the Fields Medal. Many would argue that looking for engineering applications
by mxben 4y ago
> I'm surprised there aren't more comments on this on Hacker News considering it's the Fields Medal.
Many would argue that looking for engineering applications in mathematics is not why mathematicians do mathematics. That mathematics does sometimes have engineering applications is a mysterious and beautiful side effect. It isn't the motivation behind doing mathematics.
- peterweyand0 4y agoOh I know. I just thought that more people would be excited about this and maybe point out where engineering applications might be possible if at all.
- hanche 4y agoIndeed, a possibly apocryphal tale holds that matrix algebra, while a beautiful mathematical construct, was considered by its inventor to be utterly useless. We know better today.