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Agreed. One advantage the NSA has is it can pay some of the best mathematicians to be full-time pure mathematicians. There are very few mathematicians that ha
by maxk42 13y ago
Agreed. One advantage the NSA has is it can pay some of the best mathematicians to be full-time pure mathematicians. There are very few mathematicians that have the opportunity to do something like that -- even professors have to teach a few classes. I imagine it's a powerful draw to top talent and gives them the ability to spend more time on a problem than most others.
- zorked 13y agoOn the other hand your work is secret and you will never be recognized for what you do.
- smtddr 13y agoOr, if movies have taught me anything, after you've done your work and it's fully documented & reproducible... you'll be killed
- andrewfong 13y agoThere are some (if not many) mathematicians for which recognition is not a plus (and in some cases may even be a negative).
- lesterbuck 13y agoYou would be recognized inside the NSA, a large technical population. In addition, as with the CIA and other clandestine US government organizations, they appeal to patriotism and helping the national interest. That appeal seems to be fraying somewhat lately for the NSA.
- vinceguidry 13y agoIf they're really trying to keep it secret, not even the NSA rank and file will know. It's all mostly need to know anyway.
- nitrogen 13y agoThough I have no first-hand knowledge, I was under the impression that organizations like the NSA have internal peer-reviewed journals that their mathematicians can "publish" in, while remaining classified and unavailable to the public.
- gizmo686 13y agoI have a friend who interned with the NSA in high school. Although what he did is classified, he was allowed to say that his work got published internally.
- lostlogin 13y agoThis is basically just a small step worse than many professions. Once you hit the pay wall on journal articles you want to read, how many people pay to go through?
- Mindless2112 13y agoNot everyone works for public recognition. There are enough people who are willing to work on neat problems in exchange for plenty of money who are also willing to forgo public recognition.
- bsullivan01 13y agoNever is a long time, in a decade or two you might be. BUT either way, some very brilliant NSA mathematicians know what you came up with and so do you. That's enough for a lot of people.