<p>sac, I think you are generally correct when you say that a professional mathematician spends most of the research time alone. I know nothing about industry, but in academics this is more or less a rule. It doesn't mean mathematicians don't collaborate with each other, quiet the opposite,but more often than not the collaborators live and work far away, so the communication is mostly e-mail and phone-based. H writes papers with people living in other states and in other countries, but most of his non-teaching time is spent writing formulas all by his lonesome. :)</p>
<p>A great article on Terence Tao, the 31-year old Math prof at UCLA, 20-year old Ph.D., MacArthur prize winner, etc... </p>
<p>Marite, thanks for the link.</p>
<p>I find it interesting that one of the best math minds spent some time at Flinders University. Never heard of the place.</p>
<p>There were quite a few colleges mentioned in the article so it looks like the top math minds are not congregated in one or two places, at least for undergrad.</p>
<p>For grad school, I couldn't help notice that Princeton was mentioned quite a bit. Of course, the star of the article is at UCLA.</p>
<p>"Billy Tao knew the trajectories of child prodigies like Jay Luo, who graduated with a mathematics degree from Boise State University in 1982 at the age of 12, but who has since vanished from the world of mathematics."</p>
<p>I wonder what happened to Jay Luo.</p>
<p>Dstark:</p>
<p>Terence Tao is known to readers of Hoagiesgifted and the Davidson Institute.
He grew up in Australia, so it makes sense that he attended university (at a very young age) in Australia. I know of one other Australian who made the trek from Adelaide to Princeton, but as a Ph.D. student of "normal" age.
What struck me about the article was not Tao's extraordinary accomplishments, which I'd read about before, but his air of total normalcy, whatever that means. This is not just someone who is extraordinarily gifted but who has also been trotted out since a very young age to give talk about giftedness and who has been written about extensively.</p>
<p>He is not like Andrew Wiles who worked for 10 years on Fermat's Theorem in isolation. Incidentally, the other Australian I mentioned was a TF for Andrew Wiles and had a hard time tracking him down when needed.</p>
<p>Yes, I noticed that Tao seems to have a very high EQ to go with his very high mathematical intelligence. </p>
<p>It looks like these math geniuses concentrate in certain, very specific areas. Is that what ususally happens? Or am I wrong?</p>
<p>Is that what you expect your son to do?</p>
<p>S is not in the same league! Not a genius, by any means.
He's also not keen on number theory. A pity, because that's where many jobs are now.</p>
<p>Are there a particularly large number (heh) of academic number theory jobs? or are you referring to jobs in industry and at the NSA?</p>
<p>Reading the definition of number theory gives me a headache. :)</p>
<p>My son also has little interest in number theory. That is one of the reasons he became disenchanted with math competitions - so much of it is related to number theory.</p>
<p>Aedar:</p>
<p>There aren't many jobs in academia for mathematicians. Period. There are more in industry, especially for applied math, combinatorics, number theory.</p>
<p>How about some insight into being a math major at schools which might be a step or two down from the elite schools? Any recommendations for solid math programs at LACs where there might be a little bit more emphasis on teaching over weeding?</p>
<p>S is taking a course now that applies number theory and algebra to cryptography, which is where I'd guess a lot of number theory applications are happening, especially combined with computer science and applied to businesses that need to encrypt data. </p>
<p>I also read the NYT profile this morning and admired not just how normal this phenomenal mathematician sounded, but what a wise job his parents seemed to do in nurturing him. It was also interesting to me that he's a number theorist who is working with a prof in applied and computational math. This was a question I raised earlier, which is whether the distinction between pure and applied math might be fuzzier than in other eras, especially with the burgeoning of computational math. I don't know the answer, just wondering.</p>
<p>I don't know about weeding at Harvard, Princeton, or MIT. There are different classes for different levels of preparation and interest.</p>
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It was also interesting to me that he's a number theorist who is working with a prof in applied and computational math. This was a question I raised earlier, which is whether the distinction between pure and applied math might be fuzzier than in other eras, especially with the burgeoning of computational math.
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<p>I always think of Tao as an analyst rather than a number theorist, because he earlier won a prize for research in analysis, the Bocher prize. He is rather much of an all-arounder, which was recognized in his Fields Medal citation. </p>
<p>There is a considerable blurring of the pure and applied distinction in mathematics these days.</p>
<p>My daughter was strongly encouraged to major in math after about a month in college. This came as a shock to both of us. I wanted her to have a broad-based education so nothing was emphasized in school. Music, athletics and a social life rounded out her typical week. I wonder how a math department will react to an outgoing sorority girl?</p>
<p>OT: D is taking a course in Combinatorics right now. </p>
<p>Joke from the class: Prof says, "Okay, if we put zero objects into zero sets...."</p>
<p>Why should you be scared? My S has a female friend who's a math major. I met her when she was in high school and she struck me as pretty outgoing (though not the sorority type).<br>
The dean of students at Harvard College is a mathematician. He succeeds a dean who is an applied mathematician. One chief characteristic of deans of students is being outgoing and friendly to undergraduates.</p>
<p>parentofbear: S is a "frat boy" and active in music. If the college suggested your D major in math, that's probably based on her performance. It's a broad major I think -- the equivalent of English but for those with quantitative leanings -- and she can go many directions based on what her interests turn out to be.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great link, marite. I sent it to Cookieson. </p>
<p>
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In English classes, for instance, he became flustered when he had to write essays.</p>
<p>'I never really got the hang of that', he said. 'These very vague, undefined questions. I always liked situations where there were very clear rules of what to do.'
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<p>Sounds just like my S in elementary school. They couldn't understand why he couldn't write essays. I told his third grade teacher he was stumped because there was no "right answer." We asked his teachers focus on his writing and not to go easy on him.</p>
<p>"I wonder how a math department will react to an outgoing sorority girl?"</p>
<p>My daughter is an outgoing sorority girl and a math major.</p>
<p>It's a good combo. :)</p>