Comment by enraged_camel
13 hours ago
So let me get this straight: you're saying that Terrence Tao, one of the most prominent mathematicians alive today, doesn't know math history? And me pointing this out is merely an appeal to authority?
Get outta here.
Soldiers rarely know the history of war, and war historians are rarely soldiers.
> Soldiers rarely know the history of war, and war historians are rarely soldiers.
I mean, besides the empty platitude that we have no reason to assume applies here, we can easily search and find Tao commenting on the history and philosophy of mathematics.
This is a really weird subthread.
Knowing the math that was developed through history, and knowing how that math was developed and the circumstances around it are two fundamentally different things.
Clearly Tao knows the former, but apriori that does not imply he knows the latter.
Not saying he doesn't, just saying one does not imply the other.
Even if you go back and read the original papers, you'll miss all that which happened beyond the page.
> Terrence Tao, one of the most prominent mathematicians alive today, doesn't know math history?
If Tao has a knowledge of the topic (which he does), then it isn't by virtue of being a mathematician per se, but by virtue of an interest in the history of mathematics (which he has). Knowledge of math is enormously helpful here, but it does not imply historical knowledge.