> The Germans have aptly called Sitzfleisch the ability to spend endless hours at a desk, doing gruesome work. Sitzfleisch is considered by mathematicians to be

> The Germans have aptly called Sitzfleisch the ability to spend endless hours at a desk, doing gruesome work. Sitzfleisch is considered by mathematicians to be a better gauge of success than any of the attractive definitions of talent with which psychologists regale us from time to time. Stan Ulam, however, was able to get by without any Sitzfleisch whatsoever. After his bout with encephalitis, he came to lean on his unimpaired imagination for his ideas, and on the Sitzfleisch of others for technical support. The beauty of his insights and the promise of his proposals kept him amply supplied with young collaborators, willing to lend (and risking to waste) their time. Taken from Gian-Carlo Rota in The Lost Cafe, a quote I found here http://www.romanpress.com/Rota/Rota.php http://www.romanpress.com/Rota/Rota.php