Opinion 92: Twenty Pieces of Advice for a Young (and also not so young) Mathematician

By Doron Zeilberger

Written: Nov. 1, 2008

In the otherwise excellent advice that Sir Michael Atiyah, Bela Bollobas, Dusa McDuff, Alain Connes, and Peter Sarnak give in the recently published Princeton Companion to Mathematics there is something conspiciously missing. So let me fill this gap. In fact, this piece of advice is so important, that it is worth repeating twenty times.

P.S. When I visited Egypt, I was so amazed that human beings could build the pyramides with their ancient technology. Every time I read a (human-generated) mathematical article or go to a (human-generated) mathematical talk, I am amazed how human mathematicians managed to construct such a (seemingly) complex edifice called modern mathematics. But it is even more amazing how stubbornly they cling to their old paper-and-pencil habits, and when they use the computer, it is in a very superficial manner, as a numerical or symbolic calculator. If the ancient Egyptians had a crane, their pyramids would be ten times higher.
Added Nov. 30, 2008: reading the interesting feedback by Shibi Vasudevan.
Opinions of Doron Zeilberger