On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 7:06 AM, Stephan Neuhaus
<
stephan.neuhaus@tik.ee.ethz.ch> wrote:
> On 2014-02-19, 01:11, Lodewijk andré de la porte wrote:
>> What motivation is given for their research?
>> I wasn't aware that motivation beyond "let's find out if we can make
>> this shit work" (or "let's find out how this shit works" if you're doing
>> pure research) is ever needed.
>> Fun,
>> Stephan
>Exactly. Or "If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called
>research, would it?" -- (attributed to) Albert Einstein.
Here's what Tom Lehrer had to say about "Research". (From the song, "Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky", circa 1964)
"Be that as it may, some of you may have had occasion to run into mathematicians and to
wonder therefore how they got that way, and here, in partial explanation perhaps, is the story of the great Russian mathematician Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky.
Who made me the genius I am today,
The mathematician that others all quote,
Who's the professor that made me that way?
The greatest that ever got chalk on his coat.
One man deserves the credit,
One man deserves the blame,
And Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky is his name.
Hi!
Nicolai
Ivanovich Lobach-
I am never forget the day I first meet the great Lobachevsky.
In one word he told me secret of success in mathematics:
Plagiarize!
Plagiarize,
Let no one else's work evade your eyes,
Remember why the good Lord made
your eyes,
So don't shade your eyes,
But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize -
Only be sure always to call it please 'research'.