"It is notoriously difficult to convey the proper impression of the frontiers of mathematics to nonspecialists. Ultimately the difficulty stems from the fact that mathematics is an easier subject than the other sciences. Consequently, many of the important primary problems of the subject‍—‌that is, problems which can be understood by an intelligent outsider‍—‌have either been solved or carried to a point where an indirect approach is clearly required. The great bulk of pure mathematical research is concerned with secondary, tertiary, or higher-order problem, the very statement of which can hardly be understood until one has mastered a great deal of technical mathematics."
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Mathematicians from the United StatesYale University alumniCryptographersMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyHarvard University faculty
Original Language: English
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Sources
Andrew M. Gleason. "Evolution of an active mathematical theory", Science 31 (July 1964), pp. 451–457.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andrew_Gleason
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Andrew Gleason
Andrew Mattei Gleason (November 4, 1921 - October 17, 2008) was an American mathematician who made fundamental contributions to widely varied areas of mathematics, including the solution of Hilbert's fifth problem, and was a leader in reform and innovation in teaching at all levels. Gleason's theorem in quantum logic and the Greenwood–Gleason graph, an important example in Ramsey theory, are named for him.
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