"Mathematics research had another feature that appealed to her at the time: It is something you can work on in solitude, if you wish. In her early life, she said in 1997, “I regarded anything to do with people as being sort of a horrible profession.”"
This sentence struck me as slightly odd if only because Erdõs was renowned for his social approach to mathematics[1], and my layperson's understanding of mathematics departments being somewhat collaborative within their sub-fields.
I know there are some notable examples of other solo breakthrough endeavours, such as Shinichi Mochizuki[2] or Yitang Zhang[3], and but those examples seemed to be exceptions to the rule.
Perhaps I'm channeling too much Terence Tao[4], or maybe the lone wolf researcher only applies to literal geniuses who work exclusively in academia.
Is mathematics research still a primarily solitary activity?
This sentence struck me as slightly odd if only because Erdõs was renowned for his social approach to mathematics[1], and my layperson's understanding of mathematics departments being somewhat collaborative within their sub-fields.
I know there are some notable examples of other solo breakthrough endeavours, such as Shinichi Mochizuki[2] or Yitang Zhang[3], and but those examples seemed to be exceptions to the rule.
Perhaps I'm channeling too much Terence Tao[4], or maybe the lone wolf researcher only applies to literal geniuses who work exclusively in academia.
Is mathematics research still a primarily solitary activity?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erd%C5%91s
[2] https://www.quantamagazine.org/titans-of-mathematics-clash-o...
[3] https://www.cnet.com/news/yitang-zhang-a-prime-number-proof-...
[4] https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/does-one-have-t...