2026-10-17 Update: Terence Tao interviews with Brady Haran of Numberphile, saying “We are seeing the end of the age of heroes of mathematics”. Please go listen!
I won’t write about what I think AI’s impact on frontier research will look like: I mostly have no idea and would love to not think too much about it!
However, I was thinking about something the days following the news. I was not there to witness it (in my defense, I was three years old), but during highschool I got to read about Perelman solving the Geometrization Conjecture. I even just remember this amazing video by Prof. McMullen that explains some intuition behind the problem and why it is important.
My point is that, reading about Perelman generated some admiration for him. How could it not be? You are a mathematician, you are obsessed with solving a (field-defining) problem, you devote years of your life to it, and finally you refuse the fame and prestige that come with your solution. You go monk-mode and nobody hears from you again. While I do not see myself doing that, I can see why one would do exactly that.
I did not feel any admiration or inspiration when the Navier-Stokes solution was announced. I still think the engineering behind is extremely impressive, it’s not what I am inspired from when I wear my mathematician hat.
I still think I am inspired my mathematics itself, not just by the stories of people navigating it, but you know, it is comforting when there are people like you in the waters. And when you meet a great sailor, you can’t help but think “Maybe I can be one too?”.