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> The years 1900-1970 were the golden years of mathematics for example and now there's very little to do there. I doubt this is true. Lots of amazing math has
by karmakurtisaani 3y ago
> The years 1900-1970 were the golden years of mathematics for example and now there's very little to do there.
I doubt this is true. Lots of amazing math has been done since the 70s. I guess your sentiment comes from the fact that what we learn in school/university is necessarily old math, as the newer stuff is just too advanced. Also, from the old stuff it's easy to pick out the important parts, making it look like it was better.
I forgot who said this (possibly Knuth?), but it rings true to me: "When I was young, I thought every step of progress takes out one more thing that could be discovered. Now I know it just opens several more new avenues."
- vouaobrasil 3y agoI have a math PhD, and have done research in modern math with several published papers. So, I am speaking from that perspective, not of one of an undergrad.
- karmakurtisaani 3y agoI feel like that might bias you even more, especially if you worked in a field where the major work was done 50 years ago.
- vouaobrasil 3y agoI was not. My field was Langlands and it is considered one of the freshest and most fertile fields of math. You can search that for yourself.