OT Re: Math-embarrassment results in CS [was: Should non-security 2.7 bugs be fixed?]

[Grant Edwards]

On 2015-07-23, Marko Rauhamaa <marko at pacujo.net> wrote:
> Chris Angelico <rosuav at gmail.com>:
>
>> Fortunately, we don't need to completely understand it. New Horizons
>> reached Pluto right on time after a decade of flight that involved
>> taking a left turn at Jupiter... we can predict exactly what angle to
>> fire the rockets at in order to get where we want to go, even without
>> knowing how that gravity yank works.
>>
>> Practicality beats purity?
>
> Engineer!
>
> At the time I was in college I heard topology was very fashionable among
> mathematicians. That was because it was one of the last remaining
> research topics that didn't yet have an application.

You can always pick out the topologist at a conference: he's the one
trying to dunk his coffee cup in his doughnut.

[Hey, how often do you get to use a topology  joke.]

--
Grant