Professor gave me his notes to read. He was making a steady progress in a nice, tasty, delicate style, introducing neat notions on his way. On the other hand, the whole task was infinitely simpler than what he has done in the past; the problem was well within the framework of elementary computer science, it could have been an exercise for bright high school kids, or for undergraduates, or for the beginning graduate students; furthermore, Professor didn't know, and the company didn't recognize that I have already solved that problem for them; more than that, with their programmer, the two of us have programmed my solution; furthermore--with my brother, we programmed the inverse problem, which was significantly harder (but still not such a big deal). The company had the working code from us, the two of us and their programmer had tested our program.
Professor knows and has achieved in the past a zillion times more than me; the result, for which he is famous, will be a jewel of the history of mathematics forever; but these days a single man, even when he's as outstanding as him, knows only a fraction of what science and technology has to offer.
Also, Professor was not exactly young at the time. He is older than me, while I was at the time not just old, and not even ancient, but already archaeological.
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Friday, July 6, 2007
meeting a great man
The last time I met a great mathematician, I'll call him Professor, was five and a half years ago, under weird circumstances. We both had consulted (independently) for a company owned and run by a crazy guy, whose obsession was to be famous for a scientific and technological break through. Unfortunately, the owner's idea was obviously totally wrong, much more obviously wrong than Perpetuum Mobile.
It was also the last time I made some money (actually, good money, which is another story). Professor made good money too but I am not sure if he got everything which they owed him (the company was a bit less stable than Microsoft or Google).
I'd seen Professor only for two days. It was enough to observe his modest but dignified, diplomatic conduct, and quiet, systematic way of working. I said "diplomatic" because Professor would never say anything critical about the company's technological trust. He just would say nothing except for calling it "NN's technology", with just a slight smile. I was telling them, all the time, that their effort does not make sense. Professor acted in a much more mature way. They didn't ask him about their "technology", hence he didn't volunteer his opinion. He was only concerned about his own task, which he had treated seriously. He came to the office in the morning, then he worked the full day. Day after day (I don't know for how long).
***
It's nearly 4am. I'll continue later.
It was also the last time I made some money (actually, good money, which is another story). Professor made good money too but I am not sure if he got everything which they owed him (the company was a bit less stable than Microsoft or Google).
I'd seen Professor only for two days. It was enough to observe his modest but dignified, diplomatic conduct, and quiet, systematic way of working. I said "diplomatic" because Professor would never say anything critical about the company's technological trust. He just would say nothing except for calling it "NN's technology", with just a slight smile. I was telling them, all the time, that their effort does not make sense. Professor acted in a much more mature way. They didn't ask him about their "technology", hence he didn't volunteer his opinion. He was only concerned about his own task, which he had treated seriously. He came to the office in the morning, then he worked the full day. Day after day (I don't know for how long).
***
It's nearly 4am. I'll continue later.
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