I got a degree in maths but always felt I wasn’t a mathematician. I couldn’t produce maths, just reproduce. I wasn’t bad, and did pure applied and statistics equally in my final year. I could get immersed in the world. Occasionally a lecturer would talk about the history (actually it was one statistics lecturer – I remember him talking about Florence Nightingales contributions). I always wanted background, to know people’s deadends in thinking, but there didn’t seem to be time for that.

There is still a lot to learn from the ingenuity of final solutions. In real life though, I find a series of dead ends and frustrations and imperfections.

I got what I asked for for Christmas which was Euler – The Master of Us All. It’s a good read and gives the context for his insights.