<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title></title><style type="text/css">p.MsoNormal,p.MsoNoSpacing{margin:0}</style></head><body><div style="font-family:Arial;">When Dickson made the statement there were no known applications, but of course, today there are myriad ways to use number theory in the practical realm.<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">davew<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div>On Thu, Jan 20, 2022, at 5:15 AM, Frank Wimberly wrote:<br></div><blockquote type="cite" id="qt" style=""><div dir="auto"><div>First, it's not true that number theory has no applications. But the quote reminds me of G. H. Hardy who wrote a famous book with the title "Pure Mathematics". He allegedly lost interest in his research when applications of it were discovered.<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><div>Frank<br></div><div><br></div><div dir="auto"><div>---<br></div><div>Frank C. Wimberly<br></div><div>140 Calle Ojo Feliz, <br></div><div>Santa Fe, NM 87505<br></div><div><br></div><div>505 670-9918<br></div><div>Santa Fe, NM<br></div></div></div></div><div><br></div><div class="qt-gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="qt-gmail_attr">On Thu, Jan 20, 2022, 3:53 AM Prof David West <<a href="mailto:profwest@fastmail.fm">profwest@fastmail.fm</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="qt-gmail_quote" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0.8ex;border-left-color:rgb(204, 204, 204);border-left-style:solid;border-left-width:1px;padding-left:1ex;"><div><u></u><br></div><div><div style="font-family:Arial;">Came across this quote recently and it reminded me of several conversations with Frank and others about "pure" mathematics.<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><i>"Thank God that number theory is unsullied by any application."</i> Leonard Dickson<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">Similarly for "pure" science, Hertz spoke of his research as, <i>"of no use whatsoever, just an experiment to prove Maestro Maxwell was right."</i><i></i><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">davew<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div></div><div><br></div><div>.-- .- -. - / .- -.-. - .. --- -. ..--.. / -.-. --- -. .--- ..- --. .- - .<br></div><div> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv<br></div><div> Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn UTC-6 <a href="http://bit.ly/virtualfriam" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">bit.ly/virtualfriam</a><br></div><div> un/subscribe <a href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</a><br></div><div> FRIAM-COMIC <a href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/</a><br></div><div> archives:<br></div><div> 5/2017 thru present <a href="https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/</a><br></div><div> 1/2003 thru 6/2021 <a href="http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/</a><br></div></blockquote></div><div><br></div><div>.-- .- -. - / .- -.-. - .. --- -. ..--.. / -.-. --- -. .--- ..- --. .- - .<br></div><div>FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv<br></div><div>Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn UTC-6 <a href="http://bit.ly/virtualfriam">bit.ly/virtualfriam</a><br></div><div>un/subscribe <a href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com">http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</a><br></div><div>FRIAM-COMIC <a href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/">http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/</a><br></div><div>archives:<br></div><div>5/2017 thru present <a href="https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/">https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/</a><br></div><div>1/2003 thru 6/2021 <a href="http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/">http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/</a><br></div><div><br></div></blockquote><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div></body></html>