Can we become mathematicians by way of self-study? (Part 2)

In the list of famous self-taught mathematicians mentioned in Part 1 there is a very striking name: Indian math genius Srinivasa Ramanujan. Although he was self-taught, he still left a huge fortune of more than 3900 equations and a unified consciousness that was very valuable to mathematics. Ramanujan's time was the late 19th century and early 20th century. Now is the 21st century, socio-economic conditions have changed, higher education opportunities are open, should we pursue Math career by way of self-study like Ramanujan?

Please read to part 2: two conditions for a self-taught mathematician. Series summarized from the comments of readers Quora.com, one of the leading question and answer websites in the world.

Need love to overcome all obstacles

Becoming a self-taught mathematician is not an independent research problem. The truth is that most people who achieve great things without formal training have such confidence and desire that they do not spend much time thinking about how to perform (math dreams). they only swim under the guidance of passion.

Becoming a self-taught mathematician is not an independent research problem.

According to Lendz Elliot readers, mathematics is like a platform that can be considered from many angles. These perspectives can be broken down into three groups: mathematical experience angles, mathematical non-experience angles, and mathematicians' angles.

Math will not help you get rich, becoming a mathematician will not help you famous, and I (Lendz) often observe that the fastest way to not become a mathematician is to make sure . The course you choose is math.

It was because mathematics was born nearly 3000 years, while computer science was only 29 years old, and modern physics only really began to "take off" with the invention of the light bulb in the early 1900s, and soon there were rapid strides of relativism and quantum mechanics.

In today's position, mathematics has been ahead of the light industry for thousands of light years, making it particularly difficult to find situations that can be applied to problems worth commercialization. Mathematics is also strangely complex, and only a very small number of people choose to understand the most complex things going on. Those complicated things make you attracted but it's too easy for you to disagree with them (because they're confusing!).

It seems the saying "the fastest way to not be a mathematician is to make sure . the course you choose to be mathematically" is not intertwined. Maths are appealing, and math has seduced many great people into its soft bends. But the math you know and the math that exists at the highest levels of activity can be as distinctly different as day and night.

Be aware that the only reason why someone really wants to be a mathematician is because a conscious love exceeds the normal level for mathematical research. As you progress further in research, content begins to fundamentally change, often changing in an uninteresting way. When it came to that time, most of the refusal decisions continued not because it was difficult when the front slope became vertical but because of the nature of what they thought they were promised and what they received. What to eat together. Most give up and jump to other fronts, becoming physicists or economists.

At the purest perspective, mathematics is a field of study of models (patterns, rules). Is mathematics more scientific or more artistic? Whether the coin is tipped or back when you bounce, it is important to realize that math has been very, very hard to ask the right questions. In this example, the answer is "By the heat of love, admiration and patience for the subject, that's the problem" then the right question is not "How do I become a self-taught mathematician ". The right question should be " Should I become a mathematician?". If you love math, you will love math. If you like the idea of ​​becoming a mathematician, you should set a vision to turn math into your hobby.

The only reason that really makes someone want to be a mathematician is because a conscious love exceeds the normal level for mathematical research.(Photo: Etsy)

That (Should I become a mathematician?) Is feasible. The self-taught mathematicians rise from a cave every few years and shock the math community with a strange solution to the mysterious problems that have made the greatest minds in 100 years. recently had a headache, it was not a strange thing.

When you have love, knowledge will follow. I suggest you access the internet and read only academic textbooks. First, I will study, not read, but learn nearly 500 books and Euler's studies (pretty much!).

Euler was the best mathematician of the 18th century and considered the greatest mathematician of all time, on par with Newton and Archimedes.

And in the middle of the journey, you can add to your knowledge more modern approaches.

Lendz Elliot is a professional writer and editor, bachelor of the University of California Santa Cruz-top, linguistics and math language, 50 top American schools and top 150 world rankings. of Academic Rankings of World Universities 2018.

Pen and editor Lendz Elliot.(Photo: Quora.com)

Need foundation to not reinvent the wheel

The first condition to become a self-taught mathematician is passion. But passion is only one part, the rest is your ability, your understanding of mathematics and the path to math. Self-study does not mean not going to school. Studying math at university is not useless. Without formal education, you're more likely to reinvent the wheel many times until you can come across a new discovery.

The great geniuses and mathematicians mentioned in Part 1 do not go to the regular school of math but later on, half of them went to study in mathematics or completed research with professional value to be successful. received a doctorate at world famous schools.

After announcing the first work on mathematical applications in physics, in 1833 British mathematician and physicist George Green entered Cambridge University in mathematics at the age of 40 and graduated in 1837. Two times Srinivasa Ramanujan studying college in India but with many efforts, he finally earned a bachelor's degree in research from Cambridge University (equivalent to today's doctoral degree) through a project about numbers.

Math genius Srinivasa Ramanujan and colleagues at Cambridge University.(Photo: Medium)

Chinese famous number theorist Hua Luogeng, who is unfinished for high school, but he has already completed his high school math program, part of the university math program and was promoted to a great faculty. Tsinghua University at the age of 24. At the age of 28, after two years studying at Cambridge, he published a study of Waring's problem in number theory and resonated in the international community. Back home, he was appointed to the position of full professor of Tsinghua University, becoming a non-university professor at China's top university in the field of natural science.

The second Chinese mathematician mentioned in Part 1 was Zhang Yitang because of the circumstances he should study at university later than his peers for many years but also earned his Ph.D. at the age of 35, in 1991.

Zhang Yitang studied for a doctorate at Purdue West Lafayette public university, a research-intensive university, which is among the highest-performing research universities (doctoral degrees) in the United States. In the US, the ranked schools with the highest research activities are those of the "elite" group, which have a much tougher input selection than universities that specialize in application and practice. Purdue West Lafayette School is ranked 34th in the US by the Academic Rankings of World Universities and 70th in the list of the world's best universities in 2018.

Josh Isralowitz, PhD, an assistant professor of mathematics at Albany University (New York), said: "Being an amateur mathematician is possible. Amateur mathematicians are anyone who discovers these. something really new and interesting in math, even without formal training ". But here we are talking about professional mathematicians.

Doctor math Josh Isralowitz, assistant professor of mathematics at Albany University.(Photo: Albany University)

If you want to have a math career, the best thing you should do is learn enough math knowledge to take a PhD course (assuming you have a university degree). Although it is feasible to theoretically learn enough math to become a research mathematician, no one in the academic world will hire you if you do not have a doctorate. And you need to study after a PhD if you want a position in a research university.

Ramanujan studied himself and got Hardy's attention and an academic position but it was another time. Today, formal education is much more accessible. And most importantly, Ramanujan has the ability of a genius.

(continue).

1. Can we become mathematicians by way of self-study? (Part 1)