Re: Publication not so important in mathematics

From: Michael J Hardy (mjhardy_at_mit.edu)
Date: 03/18/05 

Date: 18 Mar 2005 00:42:34 GMT

I wrote:

> I wonder if you misunderstand the purpose of publication.
>
> The purpose is NOT to use publication as a sort of assurance
> of correctness, on the theory that published papers have been
> checked for correctness. That's not even a small part of the
> purpose.
>
> The main purpose is to acquaint readers with the material.
> A secondary purpose is that math faculty members are judged
> in part by their publication records.

jstevh@msn.com answered:

> Which basically is saying that math people believe that it's all about
> their needs and interests, and others are just outside of the process.

Huh? Maybe the part about the _secondary_ purpose says that.

But I said the MAIN purpose is to acquaint readers with the material.

You wrote something; it gets published; readers read it.
Making your work available for others to read is the purpose.

Is that wrong? -- Mike Hardy

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