A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and research is mathematics. In other words, a mathematician is a person who contributes to the field of mathematics. People who apply mathematics to other fields, but do not contribute directly to mathematics, are generally not considered mathematicians.

Overview

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Unlike the other sciences, fundamental research in much of mathematics does not consist of performing experiments. Rather, mathematics is about problem-solving, where truths are deduced from other known truths. Computer experiments and other numerical evidence can result in new problems and are sometimes used to solve them, though most of the time they are just used as indicators that the work is on the right track - numerical evidence is not proof to a mathematician. In the end mathematics research is about constructing proofs of theorems, and most journals would reject a paper consisting solely of numerical data. Some outstanding open problems in mathematics, such as the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture, developed after analyzing numerical work on a computer.

Not only is calculation not a big part of some areas of mathematics research, but people who have had an important influence on mathematics do not necessarily have any extraordinary ability in adding or multiplying numbers. For instance, Albert Einstein, whose ideas had a significant impact in geometry, had great difficulties with mathematics when he was a youth. See mental calculators to read about prodigies performing impressive mental calculations.

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@hemantmehta Can't argue with a mathematicians logic.
vcover (vcover) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:43:20 -0000
@hemantmehta Can't argue with a mathematicians logic.
MATH AND ALCOHOL DON'T MIX! Please, don't drink and derive. Mathematicians Against Drunk Deriving
fortune_yeti (Fun Quotes) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:04:55 -0000
MATH AND ALCOHOL DON'T MIX! Please, don't drink and derive. Mathematicians Against Drunk Deriving
Say What? Mathematicians Say Chances R Profanity Was Intentionally Encoded in Text of Schwarzenegger's Veto http://tinyurl.com/yz93nuw #LOL
Ammidon (Ammidon) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:41:04 -0000
Say What? Mathematicians Say Chances R Profanity Was Intentionally Encoded in Text of Schwarzenegger's Veto http://tinyurl.com/yz93nuw #LOL
Mathematicians Prepare for Zombie Attack http://bit.ly/42XkeY
rmoreno (Ricardo Moreno C.) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:23:07 -0000
Mathematicians Prepare for Zombie Attack http://bit.ly/42XkeY
Mathematics and religion - http://onelord.cn/math/mathematicians.html
nirman28 (Nirman Kumar) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:28:10 -0000
Mathematics and religion - http://onelord.cn/math/mathematicians.html
Having a lovely relaxing last lesson of the week with the delightful Upper Sixth Further Mathematicians, plus tea & biscuits. Jolly Good.
EmJayLambert (Matthew Lambert) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:11:40 -0000
Having a lovely relaxing last lesson of the week with the delightful Upper Sixth Further Mathematicians, plus tea & biscuits. Jolly Good.

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