Terence Tao

Terence "Terry" Chi-Shen Tao (simplified Chinese: 陶哲轩; traditional Chinese: 陶哲軒; pinyin: Táo Zhéxuān) (born 17 July 1975, Adelaide), is a Chinese Australian mathematician.

Quotes

Solving Mathematical Problems (2nd ed., 2006)

• Understand the problem. What kind of problem is it? There are three main types of problems:
  ‘Show that ...’ or ‘Evaluate ...’ questions, in which a certain statement has to be proved true, or a certain expression has to be worked out;
  ‘Find a...’ or ‘Find all...’ questions, which requires one to find something (or everything) that satisfies certain requirements;
  ‘Is there a ...’ questions, which either require you to prove a statement or provide a counterexample (and thus is one of the previous two types of problem).
  • Ch. 1 : Strategies in problem solving

What Is Inquiry-Based Learning? (2017)

• The objective in mathematics is not to obtain the highest ranking, the highest score, or the highest number of prizes and awards; instead, it is to increase understanding of mathematics (both for yourself, and for your colleagues and students), and to contribute to its development and applications. ^[1]

On requests for career advice

• Relying on intelligence alone to pull things off at the last minute may work for a while, but generally speaking at the graduate level or higher it doesn't. One needs to do a serious amount of reading and writing, and not just thinking, in order to get anywhere serious in mathematics. ^[2]

External links

Wikipedia has an article about:

Terence Tao

Mathematics
Mathematicians (by country)	Abel • Anaxagoras • Archimedes • Aristarchus of Samos • Averroes • Arnold • Banach • Cantor • Cartan • Chern • Cohen • Descartes • Diophantus • Erdős • Euclid • Euler • Fourier • Gauss • Gödel • Grassmann • Grothendieck • Hamilton • Hilbert • Hypatia • Lagrange • Laplace • Leibniz • Milnor • Newton • von Neumann • Noether • Penrose • Perelman • Poincaré • Pólya • Pythagoras • Riemann • Russell • Schwartz • Serre • Tao • Tarski • Thales • Turing • Weil • Weyl • Wiles • Witten
Numbers	1 • 23 • 360 • e • π • Fibonacci numbers • Irrational number • Negative number • Number • Prime number • Quaternion • Octonion
Concepts	Abstraction • Algorithms • Axiomatic system • Completeness • Deductive reasoning • Differential equation • Dimension • Ellipse • Elliptic curve • Exponential growth • Infinity • Integration • Geodesic • Induction • Proof • Partial differential equation • Principle of least action • Prisoner's dilemma • Probability • Randomness • Theorem • Topological space • Wave equation
Results	Euler's identity • Fermat's Last Theorem
Pure math	Abstract algebra • Algebra • Analysis • Algebraic geometry (Sheaf theory) • Algebraic topology • Arithmetic • Calculus • Category theory • Combinatorics • Commutative algebra • Complex analysis • Differential calculus • Differential geometry • Differential topology • Ergodic theory • Foundations of mathematics • Functional analysis • Game theory • Geometry • Global analysis • Graph theory • Group theory • Harmonic analysis • Homological algebra • Invariant theory • Logic • Non-Euclidean geometry • Nonstandard analysis • Number theory • Numerical analysis • Operations research • Representation theory • Ring theory • Set theory • Sheaf theory • Statistics • Symplectic geometry • Topology
Applied math	Computational fluid dynamics • Econometrics • Fluid mechanics • Mathematical physics • Science
History of math	Ancient Greek mathematics • Euclid's Elements • History of algebra • History of calculus • History of logarithms • Indian mathematics • Principia Mathematica
Other	Mathematics and mysticism • Mathematical Platonism • Mathematics education • Mathematics, from the points of view of the Mathematician and of the Physicist • Philosophy of mathematics • Unification in science and mathematics

1. ↑ Dana C. Ernst, Angie Hodge, Stan Yoshinobu (2017). "What Is Inquiry-Based Learning?" (pdf). Notices of the AMS 64 (6): 570-574. Retrieved on 2018.
2. ↑ http://www.math.ucla.edu/~tao/advice.html