sábado, 23 de junio de 2012

Consejos para un matemático joven

No investigué mucho cómo fue que se generó esta colección de artículos "Advice to a Young Mathematician", pero rescato algunas partes para mí buenísimas.

Los autores de los 5 artículos son:
El mejor de todos es el artículo de Atiyah, seguido del de Bollobás. El de McDuff tiene un arranque muy honesto que me gusta mucho también.

Van algunos extractos, entre paréntesis diciendo de quién es:
Do mathematics only if you are passionate about it, only if you would do it even if you had to find the time for it after a full day’s work in another job. Like poetry and music, mathematics is not an occupation but a vocation. (BB)  
A research mathematician, like a creative artist, has to be passionately interested in the subject and fully dedicated to it. Without strong internal motivation you cannot succeed, but if you enjoy mathematics the satisfaction you can get from solving hard problems is immense. (SMA)
Esto es tal cual... nada mejor que pensar una solución, implementarla y ver que realmente funciona... me pasó muchas veces en la facultad y trabajando... uno tiene la sensación de casi haber descubierto un teorema, y te empezás a preguntar a ver si fuiste el único que propuso esa solución. 
...Jean-Pierre Serre, perhaps the outstanding mathematician of my generation, told me that he too had contemplated giving up at one stage. Only the mediocre are supremely confident of their ability. The better you are, the higher the standards you set yourself—you can see beyond your immediate reach. (SMA)
 Muy claro y tranquilizador para muchos de nosotros. Gratificaciones demoradas, tiempos difíciles de medir, etc... en este ámbito, casi más que en cualquier otro, uno no sabe qué efecto tiene dedicar marginalmente un poco más al problema...
You should not regard mathematics as a closed world, and the interaction between mathematics and other disciplines is healthy both for the individual and for society. (SMA)
Too much isolation and introspection can be dangerous, and time spent in apparently idle conversation is not really wasted. (SMA)
Un consejo bueno para varios de nosotros que algunas veces tendemos a ser más introvertidos que extrovertidos... "todo en su medida y armoniosamente". 

...a good example is a thing of beauty. It shines and convinces. It gives insight and understanding. It provides the bedrock of belief. (SMA)
In mathematics, ideas and concepts come first, then come questions and problems. At this stage the search for solutions begins, one looks for a method or strategy. Once you have convinced yourself that the problem has been well-posed, and that you have the right tools for the job, you then begin to think hard about the technicalities of the proof. (SMA)
Un idea central en matemáticas, que quizás sea el por qué me inclino más por las ideas que por lo que viene después
As a young mathematician, your main advantage is that you have plenty of time for research. You may not realize it, but it is very unlikely that you will ever again have as much time as you do at the beginning of your career. Everybody feels that there is not enough time to do mathematics, but as the years pass this feeling gets more and more acute, and more and more justified. (BB)
Tal cual! No solamente como matemático joven, sino como lo-que-sea joven, siempre tenés más tiempo cuando sos más joven... me hubiera encantado saber esto antes...
Mathematicians usually have a hard time explaining to their partner that the times when they work with most intensity are when they are lying down in the dark on a sofa. (AC)
Ya no se me ocurre cómo explicarle a M esto...

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