math, a world that is more competitive than most realize. Mathematicians usually enter the field out of a love for numbers, structures, or models, but the real thrill often comes from being the first to make a discovery or advance. Andrew Wiles, the Princeton mathematician famous for proving the Fermat conjecture, describes mathematics as a journey through “a dark unexplored mansion,” with months, or even years, spent “stumbling around.” Along the way, pressures emerge. Math is considered a young person’s game—those who don’t accomplish something of significance in their twenties or early
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