Accessible Even to a Philosopher
Posted by David Corfield
Edward Frenkel has a paper out today – Gauge Theory and Langlands Duality – which sets out from André’s Weil’s letter to his sister.
This is a remarkable document, in which Weil tries to explain, in fairly elementary terms (presumably, accessible even to a philosopher), the “big picture” of mathematics, the way he saw it. I think this sets a great example to follow for all of us.
Martin Krieger provided a translation of the letter. As for its accessibility, I can say that it did inspire chapter 4 of my book. Let’s hope Frenkel’s paper can also be inspirational. At first glance, however, it looks tough going.
Serge Lang was not so enamoured with Weil’s letter (as explained here) for reasons of inaccuracy. He also gives his translation of the sentence where Weil comments on its accessibility:
Maybe you will believe you understand the beginning: you will understand nothing after that.
Now let’s see whether I can do any better with Gauge Theory and Langlands Duality.
understanding
Contrast
Maybe you will believe you understand the beginning: you will understand nothing after that.
with the author of `The Cloud of Unknowing’
who advises if you understand nothing at the beginning, push on after that.