Talk:Michael Somos

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Michael Somos is an independent American mathematician, currently a visiting scholar in Georgetown University.

What does "independent" mean in this context? Does it mean having no current permanent academic affiliation? Does it therefore apply to everyone who doesn't have tenure? Or who don't have either tenure or tenure-track positions? A euphemism for "with only temporary employment"? Or is the idea that other mathematicians work as slaves on plantations and are not allowed to think for themselves but Somos somehow escaped? Michael Hardy (talk) 22:51, 9 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I would say that "independent" means that he doesn't have a non-visiting academic position. Most notable mathematicians and scientists have a more formal academic appointment than a clerk's position at the Swiss Patent Office, so when this is not the case then I would have thought that the fact was worthy of note in an encyclopedia. Phil Bridger (talk) 23:31, 9 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Well, given the unclarity in the meaning of the word in the context in which it was used, I think that should be expressed differently. Michael Hardy (talk) 04:31, 10 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]