It is hard to communicate understanding because that is something you get by living with a problem for a long time. You study it, perhaps for years, you get the feel of it and it is in your bones. You can't convey that to anyone else. Having studied the problem for five years you may be able to present it in such a way that it would take somebody else less time to get to that point than it took you. But if they haven't struggled with the problem and seen all the pitfalls, then they haven't really understood it.
I dislike frontiers, political or intellectual, and I find that ignoring them is an essential catalyst for creative thought. Ideas should flow withou… - Michael Atiyah
I dislike frontiers, political or intellectual, and I find that ignoring them is an essential catalyst for creative thought. Ideas should flow withou…
- Michael Atiyah
Everything useful in mathematics has been devised for a purpose. Even if you don't know it, the guy who did it first, he knew what he was doing. Bana… - Michael Atiyah
Everything useful in mathematics has been devised for a purpose. Even if you don't know it, the guy who did it first, he knew what he was doing. Bana…
In the broad light of day mathematicians check their equations and their proofs, leaving no stone unturned in their search for rigour. But, at night,… - Michael Atiyah
In the broad light of day mathematicians check their equations and their proofs, leaving no stone unturned in their search for rigour. But, at night,…
If theory is the role of the architect, then such beautiful proofs are the role of the craftsman. Of course, as with the great renaissance artists, s… - Michael Atiyah
If theory is the role of the architect, then such beautiful proofs are the role of the craftsman. Of course, as with the great renaissance artists, s…
The aim of mathematics is to explain as much as possible in simple terms. - Michael Atiyah
The aim of mathematics is to explain as much as possible in simple terms.
If you attack a mathematical problem directly, very often you come to a dead end, nothing you do seems to work and you feel that if only you could pe… - Michael Atiyah
If you attack a mathematical problem directly, very often you come to a dead end, nothing you do seems to work and you feel that if only you could pe…
I think it is said that Gauss had ten different proofs for the law of quadratic reciprocity. Any good theorem should have several proofs, the more th… - Michael Atiyah
I think it is said that Gauss had ten different proofs for the law of quadratic reciprocity. Any good theorem should have several proofs, the more th…
There is no clear-cut distinction between example and theory - Michael Atiyah
There is no clear-cut distinction between example and theory
I'm not the sort of person who does my mathematics writing on paper. I do that at the last stage of the game. I do my mathematics in my head. I sit d… - Michael Atiyah
I'm not the sort of person who does my mathematics writing on paper. I do that at the last stage of the game. I do my mathematics in my head. I sit d…
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