Why did Voevodsky abandon his work on “singletons”?
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In an interview (I link the Google translation), Voevodsky talks about how, in the late 2000s, he worked on the problem of "restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition". Some of his unpublished papers on this topic are now available online. For example, a paper titled "Singletons" is available on the IAS website. Why did Voevodsky abandon the subject of this rather fleshed-out paper so suddenly?
ho.history-overview m-biology
asked Nov 22 at 4:47
user514014
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up vote
6
down vote
favorite
In an interview (I link the Google translation), Voevodsky talks about how, in the late 2000s, he worked on the problem of "restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition". Some of his unpublished papers on this topic are now available online. For example, a paper titled "Singletons" is available on the IAS website. Why did Voevodsky abandon the subject of this rather fleshed-out paper so suddenly?
ho.history-overview m-biology
asked Nov 22 at 4:47
user514014
311
add a comment |
up vote
6
down vote
favorite
up vote
6
down vote
favorite
In an interview (I link the Google translation), Voevodsky talks about how, in the late 2000s, he worked on the problem of "restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition". Some of his unpublished papers on this topic are now available online. For example, a paper titled "Singletons" is available on the IAS website. Why did Voevodsky abandon the subject of this rather fleshed-out paper so suddenly?
ho.history-overview m-biology
asked Nov 22 at 4:47
user514014
311
In an interview (I link the Google translation), Voevodsky talks about how, in the late 2000s, he worked on the problem of "restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition". Some of his unpublished papers on this topic are now available online. For example, a paper titled "Singletons" is available on the IAS website. Why did Voevodsky abandon the subject of this rather fleshed-out paper so suddenly?
ho.history-overview m-biology
ho.history-overview m-biology
asked Nov 22 at 4:47
user514014
311
asked Nov 22 at 4:47
user514014
311
asked Nov 22 at 4:47
user514014
311
asked Nov 22 at 4:47
user514014
311
asked Nov 22 at 4:47
user514014
311
311
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
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Dan Grayson features this paper in his talk at the Voevodsky memorial conference. He points to an interview by Mikhailov, where VV says (Google translate):
As a result, I chose, as I understand correctly now, the problem of restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition. I was busy with this task for a total of about two years and in the end, already in 2009, I realized that what I had invented was useless. In my life, for now, this was probably the biggest scientific failure. A lot of work was invested in the project, which completely failed. Some benefit, of course, nevertheless, was - I learned a lot from probability theory, which I did not know well, and I also learned a lot about demography and demographic history.
answered Nov 22 at 6:07
David Roberts
16.5k462173
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Indeed, this is where I first heard of the linked paper. But it doesn't quite answer the question of in what way the paper(s) failed to meet Voevodsky's goals. What exactly makes his singletons work useless for this purpose?
– user514014
Nov 22 at 7:46
Hmm, unfortunately we may never know...
– David Roberts
Nov 22 at 19:49
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
4
down vote
Dan Grayson features this paper in his talk at the Voevodsky memorial conference. He points to an interview by Mikhailov, where VV says (Google translate):
As a result, I chose, as I understand correctly now, the problem of restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition. I was busy with this task for a total of about two years and in the end, already in 2009, I realized that what I had invented was useless. In my life, for now, this was probably the biggest scientific failure. A lot of work was invested in the project, which completely failed. Some benefit, of course, nevertheless, was - I learned a lot from probability theory, which I did not know well, and I also learned a lot about demography and demographic history.
answered Nov 22 at 6:07
David Roberts
16.5k462173
5
Indeed, this is where I first heard of the linked paper. But it doesn't quite answer the question of in what way the paper(s) failed to meet Voevodsky's goals. What exactly makes his singletons work useless for this purpose?
– user514014
Nov 22 at 7:46
Hmm, unfortunately we may never know...
– David Roberts
Nov 22 at 19:49
add a comment |
up vote
4
down vote
Dan Grayson features this paper in his talk at the Voevodsky memorial conference. He points to an interview by Mikhailov, where VV says (Google translate):
As a result, I chose, as I understand correctly now, the problem of restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition. I was busy with this task for a total of about two years and in the end, already in 2009, I realized that what I had invented was useless. In my life, for now, this was probably the biggest scientific failure. A lot of work was invested in the project, which completely failed. Some benefit, of course, nevertheless, was - I learned a lot from probability theory, which I did not know well, and I also learned a lot about demography and demographic history.
answered Nov 22 at 6:07
David Roberts
16.5k462173
5
Indeed, this is where I first heard of the linked paper. But it doesn't quite answer the question of in what way the paper(s) failed to meet Voevodsky's goals. What exactly makes his singletons work useless for this purpose?
– user514014
Nov 22 at 7:46
Hmm, unfortunately we may never know...
– David Roberts
Nov 22 at 19:49
add a comment |
up vote
4
down vote
up vote
4
down vote
Dan Grayson features this paper in his talk at the Voevodsky memorial conference. He points to an interview by Mikhailov, where VV says (Google translate):
As a result, I chose, as I understand correctly now, the problem of restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition. I was busy with this task for a total of about two years and in the end, already in 2009, I realized that what I had invented was useless. In my life, for now, this was probably the biggest scientific failure. A lot of work was invested in the project, which completely failed. Some benefit, of course, nevertheless, was - I learned a lot from probability theory, which I did not know well, and I also learned a lot about demography and demographic history.
answered Nov 22 at 6:07
David Roberts
16.5k462173
Dan Grayson features this paper in his talk at the Voevodsky memorial conference. He points to an interview by Mikhailov, where VV says (Google translate):
As a result, I chose, as I understand correctly now, the problem of restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition. I was busy with this task for a total of about two years and in the end, already in 2009, I realized that what I had invented was useless. In my life, for now, this was probably the biggest scientific failure. A lot of work was invested in the project, which completely failed. Some benefit, of course, nevertheless, was - I learned a lot from probability theory, which I did not know well, and I also learned a lot about demography and demographic history.
answered Nov 22 at 6:07
David Roberts
16.5k462173
answered Nov 22 at 6:07
David Roberts
16.5k462173
answered Nov 22 at 6:07
David Roberts
16.5k462173
answered Nov 22 at 6:07
David Roberts
16.5k462173
16.5k462173
5
Indeed, this is where I first heard of the linked paper. But it doesn't quite answer the question of in what way the paper(s) failed to meet Voevodsky's goals. What exactly makes his singletons work useless for this purpose?
– user514014
Nov 22 at 7:46
Hmm, unfortunately we may never know...
– David Roberts
Nov 22 at 19:49
add a comment |
5
Indeed, this is where I first heard of the linked paper. But it doesn't quite answer the question of in what way the paper(s) failed to meet Voevodsky's goals. What exactly makes his singletons work useless for this purpose?
– user514014
Nov 22 at 7:46
Hmm, unfortunately we may never know...
– David Roberts
Nov 22 at 19:49
5
5
Indeed, this is where I first heard of the linked paper. But it doesn't quite answer the question of in what way the paper(s) failed to meet Voevodsky's goals. What exactly makes his singletons work useless for this purpose?
– user514014
Nov 22 at 7:46
Indeed, this is where I first heard of the linked paper. But it doesn't quite answer the question of in what way the paper(s) failed to meet Voevodsky's goals. What exactly makes his singletons work useless for this purpose?
– user514014
Nov 22 at 7:46
Hmm, unfortunately we may never know...
– David Roberts
Nov 22 at 19:49
Hmm, unfortunately we may never know...
– David Roberts
Nov 22 at 19:49
add a comment |
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