Can you give an example of something in mathematics that was invented, condemned as boring, and a decade or more later found to be useful?
Embarrassingly: no, not offhand. I have a general impression that this happens sometimes, rather than specific examples. Maybe some of the specialfunctionology used by Louis de Branges to prove the Bieberbach conjecture?
Can you give an example of something in mathematics that was invented, condemned as boring, and a decade or more later found to be useful?
Embarrassingly: no, not offhand. I have a general impression that this happens sometimes, rather than specific examples. Maybe some of the specialfunctionology used by Louis de Branges to prove the Bieberbach conjecture?