Cathleen Morawetz has died(nytimes.com)
nytimes.com
Cathleen Morawetz has died
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/science/cathleen-morawetz-dead-nyu-mathematician.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0
23 comments
>which means she was still leading at the age of 72
The current US president is 71 and on average women have longer life expectancies so it doesn't seem that high an age to be leading a group like the AMS.
The current US president is 71 and on average women have longer life expectancies so it doesn't seem that high an age to be leading a group like the AMS.
The current US president is the oldest US president to date, and it was even a thing that came up in the campaign (for multiple candidates, by the way).
Reagan was older when elected for his second term, but Trump is the oldest to be first elected.
I remember it being an issue in the McCain campaign but not with Trump. Anyway, it's not a young age but if it's only a discussion point for president of the whole country for presiding over the AMS it shouldn't be surprising at all.
let's not bring a lowbrow act like Trump and the AMS together in one sentence ever again ... please. It's a terrible comparison.
The title of the article is somewhat strange in that it sounds like Mathematics doesn't have many real world applications. On the other hand I believe that the title of the article is very effective for people to share it or even as an attention grabber.
Well, a lot of people also believe that most modern mathematics is more abstract theory and rarely applied outside of its own field. Her work seems very closely tied to physics. So I don't think explicitly mentioning that she did applied maths is bad, especially for lay people
>it sounds like Mathematics doesn't have many real world applications.
When it comes to Pure Mathematics, isn't that true in general?
When it comes to Pure Mathematics, isn't that true in general?
Given the proximity to physics, that is very often untrue. Because of how abstract logic and maths are, analogies from maths often inform us about the physical world.
Much of cutting edge physics doesn't have practical applications either, whether it's dark matter and string theory, early universe cosmology or astrophysics. =)
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Are you really suggesting that the majority of current research in pure math has practical applications in physics or other sciences? I just don't think that's true.
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Curious why this resonates with the HN crowd?
Reqiescat in pace.
Reqiescat in pace.
The article has a lot of good info in it. There is really more here than just the fact that someone died. I had never heard of her before, but the article was an interesting read due to the content of her work, basically.
It was a nice write-up of a Mathematician I've never heard about. HN tends to have a mix of tech startup, programming and STEM-related news. I'm not surprised to see it here.
Heavy cross pollination between mathematics and programming. More so in some disciplines than others. All around sad loss for humanity.
94's a good age to go. It seemed like she lived a rich and fulfilling life. We should all be so lucky.
The HN crowd must be getting older. A lot older. It reminds me of how my grandparents would go straight to the obituaries in the daily newspaper, looking for their friends.
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Her writeup when receiving the National Medal of Science in 1998: http://www.ams.org/notices/199903/comm-morawetz.pdf