Thursday, November 13, 2008

500 and 1934

lately i have been reluctant to post here. one reason is rather superficial: this will be my 500th post on this blog, which is somewhat troubling.

have i procrastinated that much, over the years?
no wonder why i have so few papers and preprints.


another reason is that i have little to write about, other than the usual complaints about teaching and research and various aspects of academia [1].

today, however, i am in a good mood. i'm LaTeXing research notes and i don't have to teach for another .. 22 hours.



earlier i followed the advice of a colleague and looked up a splendid little paper of M¢Shane from 1934; it's the first discussion of extensions of 1ips¢hitz functions, which is now a very standard technique.

there is something soothing about reading papers that are at least 30 years old, but i cannot say why. it's like listening to bing crosby or frank sinatra; you cannot help but make a genuine smile.

those days were probably not simpler times, as nostalgia colors our judgment, but they still feel that way to me.



[1] it seems like the appropriate term has shifted to "acadème." i see it whenever i read about universities.

like the now-common spelling "élite" (say, for example, in time magazine), it makes me feel old and a bad speller. i guess the english language is changing, or the american perspective is truly becoming global.

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