New Yorker article

[John M Sullivan]

Hi all,

Perhaps of interest is this article in the New Yorker about
Richard Rusczyk's "Art of Problem Solving".

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/richard-rusczyks-worldwide-math-camp

Best,
John

[David Ash]

I know Rich--we worked together on the same trading desk at D.E. Shaw for about a year.

Interesting article. I'm especially intrigued by the following:

Paul Zeitz, an emeritus math professor at the University of San Francisco, told me that Rusczyk may have been too hasty in reaching this conclusion: performance in math contests, Zeitz said, has little to do with becoming a superb mathematician.

In other words, the transition from math contests to math research can be a tricky one to make. I'm especially interested in talking about this transition, which neither Rich nor I quite navigated successfully in youth, and helping others to make this transition. The article does mention others like Yufei Zhao who have been inspired by Art of Problem Solving and who did make the transition to research successfully.