Who the Hell is Dr. Thurston? And how does he support his astonishing statement that mathematical proofs are "easier" than programming? I can respond only with my own experience. I was a mathematics scholar at the University of Cambridge (like Newton, but a little later). My supervisor and research director was a friend and colleague of Alan Turing. I always disappointed him in not fully understanding many of the established theorems of Analysis although, as with a computer today, I was able to use them very productively. I have vivid memories of studying in a medieval freezy student room in the wee post midnight hours, looking at two lines of Dedekind, and saying, "How in Hardy's name does that line follow that one?" Mathematics is a difficult subject, and, like playing the violin or compos ing sonnets, not everyone has the mind to do it. Programming is a beast of a different color. I have written and programmed a number of codes. Real ones; some used by NASA, others to design airfoils actually flown on record breaking aircraft, one, on wind turbine siting, sold here and in Europe at $25,000 a crack. They were tiresome to write, boring, detailed and demanding diligent programmers with more patience than I. But they involved no intellectual challenge beyond my limited apprehension . The above are just personal, factual statements. They PROVE nothing. But they do suggest from personal experience that Thurston's statement is BS. I mean, T heory crumbles before the F acts.
Peter Lissaman, Da Vinci Ventures Expertise is not knowing everything, but knowing what to look for. 1454 Miracerros Loop South, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505,USA tel:(505)983-7728
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