Pure Research is a Bet on Progress

from Castles in the Sky [alt+shift+b] in life

Normally I spend part of my summer convincing a group of reluctant students that pure research is an essential part of the progress and preservation of civilization. But for the first time in four years, my calendar was blank for the middle weeks of June. I would usually teach a two-week-long intensive course to undergraduate students interested in research. I want to revisit what I wrote last year when teaching this course:

a year ago

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