Sunday, July 30, 2006
Questions of controversy
If you look over what I claim to have discovered and know much about mathematics, the first natural reaction if this story is new to you, is disbelief: how could any of those claims be true without math society recognizing them?
The simplest answer I have is, politics.
Regardless, why should anyone pay attention to someone outside of a discipline where that person claims to have major discoveries, shouldn't they just follow the rules and procedures for getting their research acknowledged? Isn't it a bad sign for such a person to be out on the web with big claims versus going to the academic institutions or journals?
But you see, I did follow the rules, even had a paper published in a now defunct math journal, and here's a site mirror:
http://www.emis.de/journals/SWJPAM/
The paper was published but then withdrawn by the editors when some Usenet people from the newsgroup sci.math sent emails claiming it was wrong:
http://www.emis.de/journals/SWJPAM/vol2-03.html
That journal managed one more edition and then died.
No news headlines. Nothing in the papers. But the story is that a supposed crackpot had a major paper published in a peer reviewed, established mathematical journal, there was furor on some math newsgroup, where some people from that group sent some emails and managed to get the paper yanked, but the aftermath was that the math journal only managed one more edition before dying.
And you probably never heard of any of this until now unless you're part of math society.
So then, what can I do if math people don't follow their own rules?
There is a dead math journal to show you how big the politics in this situation are.
Notice too that I'm being given few options. I have talked to mathematicians at universities both by email and in person. I have had a paper published as I mentioned, and yes, I did try to get it published in another math journal, and even had help—to no avail.
The real story here is that I have few options, and this is one of them. So that's why I am on the web in this way.
What else can I do?
The simplest answer I have is, politics.
Regardless, why should anyone pay attention to someone outside of a discipline where that person claims to have major discoveries, shouldn't they just follow the rules and procedures for getting their research acknowledged? Isn't it a bad sign for such a person to be out on the web with big claims versus going to the academic institutions or journals?
But you see, I did follow the rules, even had a paper published in a now defunct math journal, and here's a site mirror:
http://www.emis.de/journals/SWJPAM/
The paper was published but then withdrawn by the editors when some Usenet people from the newsgroup sci.math sent emails claiming it was wrong:
http://www.emis.de/journals/SWJPAM/vol2-03.html
That journal managed one more edition and then died.
No news headlines. Nothing in the papers. But the story is that a supposed crackpot had a major paper published in a peer reviewed, established mathematical journal, there was furor on some math newsgroup, where some people from that group sent some emails and managed to get the paper yanked, but the aftermath was that the math journal only managed one more edition before dying.
And you probably never heard of any of this until now unless you're part of math society.
So then, what can I do if math people don't follow their own rules?
There is a dead math journal to show you how big the politics in this situation are.
Notice too that I'm being given few options. I have talked to mathematicians at universities both by email and in person. I have had a paper published as I mentioned, and yes, I did try to get it published in another math journal, and even had help—to no avail.
The real story here is that I have few options, and this is one of them. So that's why I am on the web in this way.
What else can I do?
# posted by James Harris @ 14:59 
