Page 142 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 13(1) (2025)

matematikom drugih slovanskih jezikov. Zdaj to his intuition. He ignored how other nations
med mladimi ponekod prevladuje izraz »nor- referred to it: normal subgroup, normale Un-
malna podgrupa«. tergruppe, sous-groupe normal, sottogruppo nor-
Aktivni matematiki živimo v dveh preple- male. This made it more difficult for Slovenian
tenih in vendar med seboj neprodušno pregra- mathematicians to read foreign mathematical
jenih svetovih: v svetu matematike in v realnem texts, as well as for mathematicians from other
svetu. Za kreativno delo v svetu matematike je Slavic languages to understand Slovenian texts.
nujno potrebna daljša koncentracija v realnem The term ‘normal subgroup’ is more commonly
svetu. Nedvomno pa sta potrebni tudi samoza- used among young people.
vest in močna motivacija, ki pogosto vključuje- Active mathematicians live in two inter-
ta tekmovalnost z adrenalinskim izzivom. Seve- twined yet completely separate worlds: the
da pa se samozavest s starostjo zmanjšuje. Sveže, world of mathematics and the real world. Cre-
142 genialne ideje mladosti so v starejših letih manj ative work in the world of mathematics requires
verjet ne. Koncentracija in moč, potrebni za do- prolonged concentration in the real world. Un-
končanje vrhunske razprave, ki vsebuje težke do- doubtedly, self-confidence and strong motiva-
studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 13 (2025), številka 1 / volume 13 (2025), number 1
kaze, ki ne smejo imeti prav nobene luknje, s sta- tion are also necessary, often involving com-
rostjo pešata. petitiveness and an adrenaline rush. Of course,
Dandanes je sodelovanje s kolegi in z mlaj- self-confidence tends to diminish with age. The
šimi (študenti) ter računalnikom (zunanji po- fresh, brilliant ideas of youth are less likely to oc-
mnilnik, eksperimentator) lahko v veliko pomoč cur in older age. The concentration and strength
– da o umetni inteligenci ne govorimo. Tega pa required to engage in a top-level discussion in-
Plemelj žal ni imel. En razlog je njegova napoti- volving complex arguments that must be thor-
tev s periferije (Dunaj – Avstrija) do še bolj od- oughly watertight decline with age.
daljene periferije (najprej rob imperija – Černo- Nowadays, collaboration with colleagues,
vice, potem Balkan – Ljubljana). Drugi razlog younger people (such as students), and com-
pa je znana mentaliteta prvorazrednih matema- puters (external memory, experimenter) can be
tikov, ki jim v šali rečemo »pravilo 2n-1«. Prvo- a great help, not to mention artificial intelli-
razredni matematiki okoli sebe zbirajo prvoraz- gence. Unfortunately, Plemelj did not have this.
redne matematike, drugorazredni tretjerazredne One reason is his transfer from the centre (Vi-
in vsi nadaljnji še slabše od sebe. In Plemelj je bil enna, Austria) to an even more remote periph-
vsaj deset let prvorazredni matematik. Ko pa je ery (first to the edge of the empire – Chernivt-
začutil, da ni več v vrhunski formi, je začel zgub- si, then to the Balkans – Ljubljana). Another
ljati samozavest in objave preusmeril večinoma v reason is the well-known mentality of first-class
manj zahtevne, domače revije. Zgovoren je po- mathematicians, which we jokingly call the ‘2n-
datek, da je v svoji več kot pol stoletja dolgi uni- 1 rule’. First-class mathematicians gather first-
verzitetni karieri »pridelal« le dva doktoran- class mathematicians around them, second-class
da, kljub temu da kot mentor tako rekoč ni imel mathematicians gather third-class mathemati-
konkurence. cians, and all the rest gather those who are even
Prepričan je bil, da lahko samo prvorazred- worse than themselves. And Plemelj was a first-
ni znanstveniki osnujejo novo univerzo. class mathematician for at least ten years. How-
Na srečo pri matematiki ni bil čisto sam. ever, when he felt that he was no longer at the
Pomagal mu je organizacijsko spretnejši Lju- top of his game, he began to lose confidence
bljančan, Rihard Zupančič, drugi rektor Uni- and shifted his publications mainly to less de-
verze v Ljubljani, ki pa je bil žal po rodu Nemec manding domestic journals. It is telling that in
in je nekoč npr. raje predaval v francoščini kot v his more than half-century-long university ca-
slabi slovenščini. reer, he ‘produced’ only two doctoral students,