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Interview help for 'A Mathematician's Apology'

Hi

So further to the first thread, I also mentioned that I read 'A Mathematician's Apology' in my personal statement; 'and it gave me a glimpse into subject research', being the exact quotation.
What questions might they ask about this, and also about the book in general?
I would greatly appreciate the help, and its also quite urgent as the interview is on Wednesday!

Thanks
Reply 1
Avatar for davros
davros
16
Original post by HashBrowns
Hi

So further to the first thread, I also mentioned that I read 'A Mathematician's Apology' in my personal statement; 'and it gave me a glimpse into subject research', being the exact quotation.
What questions might they ask about this, and also about the book in general?
I would greatly appreciate the help, and its also quite urgent as the interview is on Wednesday!

Thanks


I'd be careful about writing things like that to be honest. Hardy wrote 'A Mathematician's Apology' in 1940, and whilst I think it makes a good read, it is a bit of a pecularity, and I'm not sure how it would give you a "glimpse into subject research".

It's certainly a book that every Mathematician should take a look at, but to strengthen your application I would suggest reading texts with a bit more mathematical 'meat' and finding an area of Maths that interests you and that you can discuss.
What insight were you given and how has this confirmed your desire to read Mathematics at University?
Reply 3
Avatar for HashBrowns
HashBrowns
OP
7
Thanks a lot for the replies! Turns out they didn't question me on it but chose some material of Does God Play Dice!

However I still liked reading the book because I saw how maths could be justified to study despite not being as practical oriented - how research has changed with an emphasis on extensive work in particular areas for a number of years (previously the likes of Poincare invented topology by exploring chaos theory).

- Like how the maths itself which has been created may not be directly applicable at the time, but ten years later the Taniyama Shimura conjecture proved to be the missing link for Fermats Last Theorem. I guess it is similar to what Andrew Wiles accomplished as shown by his recent documentary.
Reply 4
Avatar for HashBrowns
HashBrowns
OP
7
It showed me that opportunities still remain for progress in the field, and I am excited by recent development.

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