The great number theorist GH Hardy would probably have disagreed with the label “great”. In his book A Mathematician’s Apology, he admitted: “I have never done anything ‘useful’. No discovery of mine has made, or is likely to make, directly or indirectly, for good or ill, the least difference to the amenity of the world.” He added that he had trained other mathematicians “of the same kind as myself, and their work has been . . . as useless as my own”.
伟大的数论家G. H. 哈代大概不会认同“伟大”这个称号。在他的《一个数学家的辩白》中，他坦承：“我从未做过任何‘有用’的事。我的任何发现，无论直接还是间接，无论利弊如何，都不太可能、也从未对这个世界的宜居性产生哪怕最微小的影响。”他还补充说，他培养了“与我同类的”其他数学家，而他们的工作“……和我自己的工作一样无用”。
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