There are many parts to being a scientist. I use the term scientist because it's broad, and I think that the comments I'll make here extend across disciplines, and also because we mathematicians view our work as science, even if we're not always directly applying the scientific method when we're doing research.
From the outside, mathematics seems to be a solitary discipline. There's much truth to this notion, but it's also a very social discipline, both in the sense that you've got to see what others are doing to be inspired, and also because work is typically better done in groups, the whole being greater than it's parts. Indeed, in this day and age, many of the important problems mathematicians are tackling could not be solved by a single person.
Conferences serve the purpose of bringing researchers of a similar mind together, to share ideas and to be inspired by one another. By now, I have been to many conferences, and I do find that they achieve their purpose, but they are also lonely places. You typically find yourself sequestered away in some hotel, with a lot of free time between the talks that really interest you. In the past, conferences have been places where I've gotten work done.
I am currently at the SIAM (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics) Annual Meeting in San Diego. It's been good: I've given a talk and seen some great ones. And the family is along, which makes the trip much more enjoyable and less lonely than usual.
No comments:
Post a Comment