Princeton Maths- how good is it?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
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<p>"While not a great amount of time, the process to finding a solution is similar to that of solving a research problem."</p>

<p>That might be a bit of a stretch. </p>

<p>Research brings about innovative ideas from researching mathematical aspects. It is done to derive something new, whereas competitions are there to solve problems that will always have a solution.</p>

<p>There are many great research mathematicians that could care less about competitions because competitions don't cause one to find something new or discover something new....They simply are there to solve and win a competition. Great research mathematicians want to advance in their field and open up more areas of math. Comeptitions are something they do for fun.</p>

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<p>"I disagree with the assesment that the Putnam is based on speed or technical proficiency" I agree. I did not mean this. The putnam is an excellent competition, but seeing how much it puts on intuitiveness, and how it demphasizes speed and technique, yet still only a few who have one have gone on to do path-breaking reseach, I am forced to draw the conclusion that doing well at these does not mean that much. They are still fun though.</p>

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That might be a bit of a stretch. </p>

<p>Research brings about innovative ideas from researching mathematical aspects. It is done to derive something new, whereas competitions are there to solve problems that will always have a solution.

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<p>It isn't a stretch. Many problems are basically smaller cases of real open problems. The only difference is that they are indeed solved - but that doesn't imply that they are somehow easier, just that one is working with that certainty. </p>

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There are many great research mathematicians that could care less about competitions because competitions don't cause one to find something new or discover something new....

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<p>Frequently, contestants discover novel solutions that are previously unkown - much like a researcher. The harder the problem, the better the research. If your attitude was the way mathematicians felt, we wouldn't have, say, the elementary proof of Bertrand's conjecture (since Hardy wouldn't have bothered to look for a new solution to a sovled problem.) The reality is that mathematicians care deeply about problem solving, and some of the most important problems appear in journals with solution columns, and so on... The only difference is the time stipulation, which does indeed limit the difficulty.</p>

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simply are there to solve and win a competition.

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<p>The people who do truly well would disagree - they find solving difficult problems an art. It isn't just competition.</p>

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research mathematicians want to advance in their field and open up more areas of math.

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<p>Disagreed. Wiles did not prove Fermat's last theorem to open up more areas of math. Besides, by problem solving, it is entirely possible to open up new ideas - you'll frequently find generalizations of problems becoming active research areas. Generalizations of certain IMO problems lead directly to open questions in Ramsey theory, for example.</p>

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am forced to draw the conclusion that doing well at these does not mean that much.

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<p>I understand. Still, perhaps competitions weren't as popular or as widespread as before. I'm curious to see what will happen in the next few decades.</p>

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<p>"I understand. Still, perhaps competitions weren't as popular or as widespread as before. I'm curious to see what will happen in the next few decades"</p>

<p>Hear Hear.</p>

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<p>I didn’t know Yale was better than Cal Tech at math. I live close to Pasadena and visit the school regularly just to walk around campus (doesn’t matter about program). though the people there were stuck up and cocky</p>

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<p>Please use old threads for information only, do not post and revive them.</p>

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<p>Why not? Isn’t this thread just as timely now as before, and doesn’t it make sense to have this info in one thread rather than spread over several threads?</p>