I Shoulda Been A Mathematician!

[Steve R.]

So, in 1970 I started college at Stony Brook University on Long Island (then called SUNY Stony Brook).  I was always very good in math, getting into the advanced classes early on through High School.  On my SATs, I scored 793 (out of 800) on the math part, having missed only one answer - and I knew which one walking out of the exam.  (I mean, who cares how to calculate the water volume of a fish tank with f-ck'ing goldfish anyway?! - not that I've held onto this).  

 

At any rate, I chose Stony Brook because it had a lot of good concerts, was close enough to drive into NYC for late Chinatown runs, and had lots of opportunity for alternate and enhanced reality adventures.  Once there, I never took a math class, majored in English Lit., heard more music than my ears could withstand, played various sports (Rollie Massimino, the basketball coach there during my freshman year even congratulated me on being good enough in tennis and squash to not mind his frank assessment of my chances to get on the basketball team) & was politically active.  Four very fun years.

 

In today's WSJ there is a nice article about Jim Simons.  It notes his early career as a Math Professor at Stony Brook and mentions all the Stony Brook mathematicians who worked for and with him over the years.  I even knew one or two of them.  They were all there during my 1970-4 stay.  Talk about a path unfollowed.... jeez!  What was(n't) I thinking.