Miscellaneous
Nice things (links) about Math and Scientific Research: (reverse chronological order, almost)
- "Don't be afraid to fail" by Artur Avila on Behind The Science - Fields Medalists Reflect on the Power of Mathematics. Extremely important testemonial for those who want to become a scientist.
- An interview of Shiing Shen Chern by Jean Pierre Bourguignon. After minute 24 he says some words about helping students; at the end of the video, he mentioned the importance of letting people do what they want to do.
- If not me, then someone else; But if not us, then no one | Daniël Lakens | TEDxEindhoven. Discussion about big discoveries: wait for a genius or work hard yourself. (2016)
- “Living Proof: Stories of Resilience Along the Mathematical Journey”, edited by Allison K. Henrich, Emille D. Lawrence, Matthew A. Pons, and David G. Taylor. "The book is free, and features an astounding group of contributing authors. The stories are organized around common themes in the experiences. Part I is about math getting hard and people hitting a wall. Part II is about struggling to belong in math (and is particularly well aligned with the goals of this blog). Part III is about persevering through and overcoming difficulties. And Part IV is about the sometimes challenge of integrating our mathematical identities with the rest of our lives." (by Brian Katz) (2019).
- Ergodicity: a historical perspective.Equilibrium and Nonequilibrium. by Giovanni Gallavotti The European Physical Journal H 41, (2016).
- Todos Cuentan: Cultivating Diversity in Combinatorics - Federico Ardila-Mantilla. Notices of the American Mathematical Society, (2016).
- Alexandre Grothendieck - Un voyage à la poursuite des choses évidentes. Le 8 février 2012, par Philippe Douroux.
- Floris Takens: A total mathematician. "Unfortunately Floris was witness to the undeniable decline of the scientific culture in our society over the past 40 years, as demonstrated by the decline in educational standards.Overly strict attention to market principles in research and education tends to replace true scientific quality and interest with a mere search for funding in the name of science. In a sense, the university itself has somewhat degenerated into a PhD thesis factory, often at the expense of scientific depth. The type of research that is driven by personal curiosity has too frequently been forced to abandon the field. In my opinion these developments sadly contributed to the fact that Floris Takenstook early retirement at the age of 59." by Henk W. Broer.
- Which journals publish expository work? (from mathoverflow)
- Mathematicians and physicists = cats and dogs? by Y. Sinai Bulletin of the AMS (2006).
- 18 Unconventional Essays on the Nature of Mathematics. Reuben Hersh. (2006). This book contained contributions from Alfred Renyi, William Thurston, Rafael Nunez, Timothy Gowers, Gian-Carlo Rota and many others.
- One Hundred Reasons to be a Scientist. From ICTP website: " Stories of great scientists and how they decided to go into science 03/07/2020 - Trieste. Why be a scientist? Nearly every scientist has a different answer and a different inspiration, drawn from varied careers, outlooks, and experiences. For its 40th anniversary in 2004, ICTP published the book One Hundred Reasons to be a Scientist, a collection of 100 essays from many eminent physicists and mathematicians with a connection to ICTP. The book is a source of many insights from the lives and careers of scientists, including Mildred Dresselhaus, Gerardus 't Hooft, Vera Rubin, and Francis K.A. Allotey. The authors discuss what led them to study science, the difficulties they encountered and overcame, and their passions and hopes for the future. We are revisiting twenty of these stories highlighting one of them every week, sharing inspirations from the essays and showcasing the words of these great scientists. During the uncertainty of the current global pandemic, the words will hopefully help researchers feel less alone in their scientific path." more here.
- On teaching mathematics. by V.I. Arnold. Russian Math. Surveys 53, (1998).
- Responses to: A. Jaffe and F. Quinn, ``Theoretical mathematics: toward a cultural synthesis of mathematics and theoretical physics'' By Michael Atiyah, Armand Borel, G. J. Chaitin, Daniel Friedan, James Glimm, Jeremy J. Gray, Morris W. Hirsch, Saunders Mac Lane, Benoit B. Mandelbrot, David Ruelle, Albert Schwarz, Karen Uhlenbeck, René Thom, Edward Witten and Sir Christopher Zeeman Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 30 (1994).
- On proof and progress in mathematics. William P. Thurston, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 30 (1994). Part: "On the other hand, I have been busy and productive, in many different activities. Our system does not create extra time for people like me to spend on writing and research; instead, it inundates us with many requests and opportunities for extra work, and my gut reaction has been to say ‘yes’ to many of these requests and opportunities. I have put a lot of effort into non-credit-producing activities that I value just as I value proving theorems: mathematical politics, revision of my notes into a book with a high standard of communication, exploration of computing in mathematics, mathematical education, development of new forms for communication of mathematics through the Geometry Center (such as our first experiment, the “Not Knot” video), directing MSRI, etc. I think that what I have done has not maximized my “credits”. I have been in a position not to feel a strong need to compete for more credits. Indeed, I began to feel strong challenges from other things besides proving new theorems. I do think that my actions have done well in stimulating mathematics."
- ``Theoretical mathematics'': toward a cultural synthesis of mathematics and theoretical physics By Arthur Jaffe and Frank Quinn. Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 29 (1993), 1-13. This paper received a strong reaction from the community, see above.
People: Mathematicians and Physicists (or both) which have webpages with materials for students and researchers: