Timeline for What recent discoveries have amateur mathematicians made?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
7 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 17, 2020 at 16:18 | comment | added | Todd Trimble | @YemonChoi By my reading, the students were not professionals, unless by "professional" one includes "intending to become a professional" (and how would one know that?). Actually, I am conflicted about calling Egan an "amateur" -- to me he walks and quacks just like a professional. | |
| Oct 16, 2020 at 22:19 | comment | added | Yemon Choi | I second @FedorPetrov's comments: "amateur" is not a synonym for "inexperienced", it is an (approximate) antonym of "professional" | |
| Oct 16, 2020 at 20:36 | comment | added | Fedor Petrov | No, I do not. Math undergraduates often do important mathematical research (because many very clever people are sometimes undergraduates, and being at this stage they know already enough for making new contributions.) They do it much more often than former math undergraduates who already work in other fields (like Greg Egan at the age of 40). And working jointly with someone's students is also a very common thing. Of course, "PRIMES is in P" is an amazing work. But the authors were not amateurs, they were mathematicians at different stages of their careers. | |
| Oct 16, 2020 at 19:48 | comment | added | David White | @FedorPetrov You're kidding, right? The third highest answer is Greg Egan, who holds a Bachelor's degree in math and wrote a paper with John Baez (a famous research mathematician). These Indian students did not even have their Bachelor's degrees yet. And they made an extremely important discovery that rocked the theoretical CS world. | |
| Oct 16, 2020 at 19:16 | comment | added | Fedor Petrov | I'd say it does not count as "amateur" at all. | |
| S Oct 16, 2020 at 19:06 | history | answered | David White | CC BY-SA 4.0 | |
| S Oct 16, 2020 at 19:06 | history | made wiki | Post Made Community Wiki by David White |