Let n be an integer …

Back in Melbourne today they would have been having “Friday morning tea”. This is a tradition that I will lay claim to starting nearly 11 years ago, not long after I started working there. However, the tradition began much longer ago, in the mathematics department of the University of Tasmania. It was started there by Michael Bulmer, and people took turns to bring along some goodies to celebrate the end of the week. When I moved to Melbourne it was a tradition I missed; fortunately my new colleagues didn’t take too much convincing that such a tradition was a good idea and worth starting.

Today I popped down to the maths department, my old stomping ground. Sure enough, there was Friday morning tea to be had, despite the fact that Michael has been gone even longer than I have. It was interesting to see what had changed and what was the same (or, more to the point, who!). The old physics brigade were still there; I’d have been surprised if Prof Elliot wasn’t there (and he was so I wasn’t (and he’ll always be Prof Elliott to me!)); there were some new faces; and I touched base very briefly with Daimler (who I taught at Hellyer College even more years ago than I’ve accounted for here).

I also had a chance to chat to Barry, who was my PhD supervisor. There is a legendary mathematician called Paul Erdös (now deceased), who was famous for skipping the trivial social exchanges in his correspondence, and cutting straight to the chase with “Let n be an integer” before launching into a proof or conjecture. My fellow PhD students, Tim and Nick, used to jest that Barry was not dissimilar; indeed, I received a fax from Barry once when I was in England en route to a conference, that contained some brief civilities and then some ideas for a mathematical avenue I might pursue.

Belying this, Barry and I enjoyed a lengthy sociable chat this morning, although, now that I think about it, it lacked the puns for which he is also famous (which shows that it isn’t always about n). Before we were done, however, there were a few “Let n be an integer” moments, as he launched into various mathematical ideas. I confess that I am no longer a good audience for these kind of discussions; I could bring some of the concepts to mind, but the years away have atrophied my mathematical knowledge.

I miss it a bit … but, hey, I still know what an integer is.