Honor, Praise, and Veneration
July 24th, 2017 by John Mansfield
Words of Lemuel Sturdevant Leavitt (1827-1916):
Our crops had been very poor. There was never enough water for each man to irrigate his scanty acres. We not only had our own families to feed, but often the Indians came and demanded bread. One winter was particularly hard. Our crops were more meager than usual and the winter was extra-long and severe. Our bins, as well as those of most of our neighbors, were getting pretty low so it was decided that I should make a trip to Parowan to replenish our supply of flour. At that time it was a hazardous undertaking, for in the winter a trip over the snow covered mountains to the north, with no road to follow, was a real undertaking, however, it was necessary that someone make the trip. (more…)
Sunday evening two days ago I had a follow-up conversation with a young mathematician, a son of members of my ward. A couple years ago I asked him about his area of work, but there wasn’t much for me to connect with—something vague about mapping manifolds. The Sunday before last I saw him again at a reception for a departing missionary couple and learned that he will begin a post-doctoral position in Finland, so I asked him, “Why Finland?” “Well, Finland is a small place, so the math research there is focused on a particular area that happens to be my area. I’ll be working with my PhD advisor’s advisor.” “And what is that area?” I asked, fearing that the answer would be as vague as before. Instead he simply said, “Complex analysis.”