When Dickson made the statement there were no known applications, but of course, today there are myriad ways to use number theory in the practical realm.
davew On Thu, Jan 20, 2022, at 5:15 AM, Frank Wimberly wrote: > First, it's not true that number theory has no applications. But the quote > reminds me of G. H. Hardy who wrote a famous book with the title "Pure > Mathematics". He allegedly lost interest in his research when applications > of it were discovered. > > Frank > > --- > Frank C. Wimberly > 140 Calle Ojo Feliz, > Santa Fe, NM 87505 > > 505 670-9918 > Santa Fe, NM > > On Thu, Jan 20, 2022, 3:53 AM Prof David West <profw...@fastmail.fm> wrote: >> __ >> Came across this quote recently and it reminded me of several conversations >> with Frank and others about "pure" mathematics. >> >> *"Thank God that number theory is unsullied by any application."* Leonard >> Dickson >> >> Similarly for "pure" science, Hertz spoke of his research as, *"of no use >> whatsoever, just an experiment to prove Maestro Maxwell was right."*** >> >> davew >> >> >> .-- .- -. - / .- -.-. - .. --- -. ..--.. / -.-. --- -. .--- ..- --. .- - . >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn UTC-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam >> un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com >> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ >> archives: >> 5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ >> 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ > > .-- .- -. - / .- -.-. - .. --- -. ..--.. / -.-. --- -. .--- ..- --. .- - . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn UTC-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam > un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: > 5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ >
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