6 - What is a Mathematician?

Summary

There are two kinds of results in mathematics: those that are obvious and those that are false.

Ron Getoor (mathematician)

For people with small horizons, every function is constant.

Oscar Bruno (mathematician)

It's only the false things that are nontrivial.

Michael Sharpe (mathematician)

Maturity is only a short break in adolescence.

Jules Feiffer (cartoonist)

Maturity is achieved when a person postpones immediate pleasures for long-term values.

Joshua Liebman (author)

Money does not buy happiness. I am now worth $50 million. But when I had only $48 million I was just as happy.

Arnold Schwarzenegger (body builder, actor, politician)

The world is everywhere dense with idiots.

L. F. S. (mathematician)

Chapter Overview

It seems clear that the rolemodel for a student endeavoring to achieve mathematical maturity is the senior, successful mathematician. Such a person could be an academic professor with a vigorous research program and an international reputation. It could be a successful and innovative worker in the private sector—such as Robert Noyce, inventor of the memory chip and the microprocessor. It could be a leader at one of the many government institutes—such as the National Security Agency (largest employer of math Ph.D.s in the world), or the Institute for Defense Analyses, or Oak Ridge National Laboratory, or Lawrence Berkeley Labs.

It is well to examine the attributes that contribute to the professional lives of successful mathematicians. How did they get to their current position of influence and success? What tribulations were met along the way? What can one learn from their career paths?