Long ago, I was discussing some results from a paper with its author, a prolific and dynamic number theorist who has made outstanding contributions to the field at a relatively young age. The conversation soon veered towards the nature of research and proving new theorems. He had something very interesting to say:
"There are two kinds of mathematicians: some fly high like birds and can see an entire landscape. They clearly see the big picture and know where to fly to. On the other hand, some are like frogs: they cannot see the landscape and have to patiently make their way through the ground with limited vision. I am the second kind."
I am sure this classification would hold for the sciences in general.
I have been struggling with a calculation for the last few days. I haven't made much headway so far, but this conversation often comes to mind and prevents me from giving up. There is hope for frogs!
Would you consider yourself a bird or a frog, or one who switches from one to the other?
"There are two kinds of mathematicians: some fly high like birds and can see an entire landscape. They clearly see the big picture and know where to fly to. On the other hand, some are like frogs: they cannot see the landscape and have to patiently make their way through the ground with limited vision. I am the second kind."
I am sure this classification would hold for the sciences in general.
I have been struggling with a calculation for the last few days. I haven't made much headway so far, but this conversation often comes to mind and prevents me from giving up. There is hope for frogs!
Would you consider yourself a bird or a frog, or one who switches from one to the other?
4 comments:
A kekda (crab).
Here is a relevant comment from a New York Review of Books article in 2005 by the eminent physicist Freeman Dyson:
"Great scientists come in two varieties, which Isaiah Berlin, quoting the seventh-century-BC poet Archilochus, called foxes and hedgehogs. Foxes know many tricks, hedgehogs only one. Foxes are interested in everything, and move easily from one problem to another. Hedgehogs are interested only in a few problems which they consider fundamental, and stick with the same problems for years or decades. Most of the great discoveries are made by hedgehogs, most of the little discoveries by foxes. Science needs both hedgehogs and foxes for its healthy growth, hedgehogs to dig deep into the nature of things, foxes to explore the complicated details of our marvelous universe. Albert Einstein was a hedgehog; Richard Feynman was a fox."
Thanks for sharing this, Gautam. Great quote!
I think I am a bird. I get bored easily, so new challenges and unknown territories are good for me.
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