The Cult of Pure Mathematics

Well, there you have it: pure mathematics is kind of like a cult, so let's stop pretending and go all the way. :P

"Our CVs won’t list the prestigious journals in which we have published, but rather our reputations will be the rumors of our arcane wisdom."

It's the cult I've always wanted!https://t.co/vkZelVoWqM

— Anna Haensch (@extremefriday) January 15, 2019

One choice excerpt (of many) from the article:

Within the sphere of pure mathematics — the oldest and most successful of humanity’s intellectual endeavors — I believe our best chance at preserving the integrity and dignity of our tradition is to return to our Pythagorean roots. We should become a cult.

Let us do away with the job market and mathjobs.com and reference letters. Let us stop pretending we understand each other’s respective sub-fields. Let us abandon those fuck-ugly Brutalist travesties we call our department buildings and leave them to those shills in applied math.

(Tip of the cap to Adriana Salerno.)

Society for Impure Mathematics (SIM)

I am an active member of SIAM, the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

Here's a Fun (Alternative) Fact: The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics used to be known as "Society for Impure Mathematics" (SIM), because those of us who do applied mathematics are less pure than other types of mathematicians, bless their hearts.

But perhaps this great organization really ought to change its name to "Society for Impure Mathematics", to appease the theoretical mathematicians who like to call themselves "pure" mathematicians.

As you may have gathered, I find the phrasing "pure mathematics" to be incredibly demeaning towards applied mathematics and applied mathematicians. (The term "unadulterated mathematics" is even worse, so I suppose that my subject of choice is "adulterated mathematics".) I really dislike being considered impure, by implication of the term in use. "Pure mathematics" should really be called "theoretical mathematics", just like in every other science.

Additionally, here are two of my tweets on this and related subjects.

From now on, can we say "theoretical mathematics" instead of "pure mathematics"? It's much less obnoxious.

From me, an impure mathematician

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) August 25, 2017

The Mathematics Subject Classification (MSC), required on the AMS cover sheet when applying for US mathematics faculty jobs, is very poorly suited for classifying applied mathematicians and leads to interdisciplinary applicants falling through the cracks.https://t.co/zcJ0vmArv4 pic.twitter.com/6KC4pg2f1y

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) December 2, 2017

Update: I corrected the acronym (I had written "SIP"), because apparently I am having a problem with English today.

Update: If we want to preserve the acronym SIAM and don't mind a bit of redundancy, it can stand for "Society for Impure and Adulterated Mathematics". :)

Pure Evil Versus Applied Evil

The new SMBC is brilliant! I love the caption: "Most of the time when people call something pure evil, they're actually talking about applied evil." ;)

"New Textbooks for the New Mathematics"

Here is an article, called "New Textbooks for the New Mathematics", by Richard Feynman that appeared in Caltech's publication Engineering and Science in March 1965.

The article includes a reprint of a cartoon from The New Yorker that reminds me of this song. (The song is relevant to the whole article, actually.)

(Tip of the cap to Ben Rogers.)

Comic Caption: "Funtime Activity: Forcibly converting pure mathematicians into applied mathematicians."

The caption on today's SMBC comic is wonderful: "Funtime Activity: Forcibly converting pure mathematicians into applied mathematicians."

YES!

(Tip of the hat to Bruno Gonçalves.)