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Freeman Dyson claims that Littlewood did not understand the importance of the work that he and Cartwright had done: "Only Cartwright understood the im
by denzil_correa 14y ago
Freeman Dyson claims that Littlewood did not understand
the importance of the work that he and Cartwright had
done: "Only Cartwright understood the importance of her
work as the foundation of chaos theory, and she is not a
person who likes to blow her own trumpet."
He records, however, that shortly before her death, he
received an indignant letter from Cartwright, scolding
him for crediting her with more than she deserved.
I don't quite remember the last time an academic did that. On the contrary, I have personally observed quite the opposite. Glad to know there were (or are) people who uphold ethical and moral values.
- dbaupp 14y agoThere's probably a significant amount of selection bias occuring here, since it seems likely that one is more likely to hear about someone who is constantly self-promoting and wanting attention, rather than a quiet person who would much rather be left alone to wrestle with the problem in front of them than make a fuss to get huge acknowledgements.