Re:Mathematicians are chronically lost and confused (2014)
by Retra on Friday June 10, 2016 @09:46PM
(#11881572)
Sub-disciplines of mathematics don't blow up and become cornerstones of education if they don't have practical applications. Analysis, Topology, Algebra, Abstract Algebra, Linear Algebra, Statistics, Geometry... If something doesn't have a major practical use, it'll probably be named after somebody specific and studied in relative obscurity.
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Re:Mathematicians are chronically lost and confused (2014)
by sn9 on Friday June 10, 2016 @10:39PM
(#11881730)
Number theory was a major field for centuries before people discovered there was a practical use for it.
Re:Mathematicians are chronically lost and confused (2014)
by Retra on Saturday June 11, 2016 @12:14AM
(#11882022)
Number theory has always had practical use. It used to just be called "Arithmetic", and it didn't become something else until that something else had demonstrated practicality.
Re:Mathematicians are chronically lost and confused (2014)
by sn9 on Saturday June 11, 2016 @02:15AM
(#11882322)
The sort of number theory that mathematicians studied for centuries had no practical use until the development of cryptography and computing in the latter half of the 20th century.
That's why Hardy famously used it as his example of mathematics done with no consideration or hope of there ever being a practical application.
Re:Mathematicians are chronically lost and confused (2014)
by Retra on Saturday June 11, 2016 @01:07PM
(#11884236)
I'm talking about education. Mathematicians work on useless stuff all the time. They don't teach it as part of their core curriculum.
Either way, Hardy was wrong. Number theory became relevant because of the work of people who thought it could be. There was hope for a practical application, even if Hardy couldn't see it.