Mundane Quotes (2 quotes)
Iconography becomes even more revealing when processes or concepts, rather than objects, must be depictedfor the constraint of a definite thing cedes directly to the imagination. How can we draw evolution or social organization, not to mention the more mundane digestion or self-interest, without portraying more of a mental structure than a physical reality? If we wish to trace the history of ideas, iconography becomes a candid camera trained upon the scholars mind.
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Theres a touch of the priesthood in the academic world, a sense that a scholar should not be distracted by the mundane tasks of day-to-day living. I used to have great stretches of time to work. Now I have research thoughts while making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Sure its impossible to write down ideas while reading Curious George to a two-year-old. On the other hand, as my husband was leaving graduate school for his first job, his thesis advisor told him, You may wonder how a professor gets any research done when one has to teach, advise students, serve on committees, referee papers, write letters of recommendation, interview prospective faculty. Well, I take long showers.
In 'In Her Own Words: Six Mathematicians Comment on Their Lives and Careers: Susan Landau', Notices of the AMS (Sep 1991), 38, No. 7, 704.