Keith Devlin |
We humans are far more than the jobs we do and the careers we pursue. Education is a preparation for life, and only part of that is the mastery of specific work skills.
Outside observers often assume that the more complicated a piece of mathematics is, the more mathematicians admire it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mathematicians admire elegance and simplicity above all else, and the ultimate goal in solving a problem is to find the method that does the job in the most efficient manner.
Advances in science are often delayed because the common wisdom holds that something is impossible.