I remember one occasion when I tried to add a little…
“I remember one occasion when I tried to add a little seasoning to a review, but I wasn't allowed to. The paper was by Dorothy Maharam, and it was a perfectly sound contribution to abstract measure theory. The domains of the underlying measures were not sets but elements of more general Boolean algebras, and their range consisted not of positive numbers but of certain abstract equivalence classes. My proposed first sentence was: "The author discusses valueless measures in pointless spaces."”
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
The quote humorously critiques a reviewer’s dismissal of a novel mathematical concept as trivial.
In simple terms: A reviewer rejected a new idea as meaningless.
Key Takeaway
Challenge assumptions about what counts as valuable research.
Themes
mathematics
review process
innovation
academic culture
Mood
skeptical
reflective
Type
critical
analytical
When to use this quote
- research proposals
- academic publishing
- peer review
- grant applications
Key Concepts
abstract measure theory
Boolean algebras
equivalence classes
Questions to Reflect On
- How do we recognize value in unconventional research?
- What biases affect peer review?
A Different Perspective
Some novel ideas may be dismissed due to unfamiliarity rather than lack of merit.