More application in math (Was: Categories)

[MARTIN FULLER]

Very well put.  OEIS suffers from some of these
problems too, e.g. some sequences do not give any
context.  This could be how the sequence is used, or
how it was reached.  What is the best way to improve
this aspect of OEIS?

--- franktaw at netscape.net wrote:

> I'd like to put my plug in for more application in
> math.
> 
> I heard of a case some years ago where a paper was
> published about some 
> kind of mathematical object (I think it was a kind
> of topological 
> space, but it really doesn't matter).  Three or four
> more papers were 
> published, establishing more and more properties for
> this type of 
> object - until finally it was proved that they don't
> exist!  This 
> wouldn't have happened if somebody had asked for an
> example at an early 
> stage.
> 
> There is a strong tendency in mathematics to start
> at the end.  The 
> researcher pursues a line of thought, which
> eventually leads to a 
> spiffy proof.  The proof is then published, with no
> hint of the process 
> by which it was reached.  This is a disservice to
> anybody who might use 
> a similar approach to solve some other problem.  It
> is especially a 
> disservice when presented to students.
> 
> On a more personal level, I find when looking a math
> paper, I want to 
> know how this relates to problems that I am already
> interested in or at 
> least familiar with.  If I can't get an answer to
> that, I have a hard 
> time maintaining any interest.
> 
> Franklin T. Adams-Watters
> 
>
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