" The subject is justified by its usefulness
rather than as a 'rite of passage.' ”.
— The late Martin Muldoon reviewing a book,
From Vector Spaces to Function Spaces:
Introduction to Functional Analysis with Applications ,
by Yutaka Yamamoto (SIAM, 2012)
Such an introduction is properly a rite of pure mathematics —
the passage in the title from vector spaces to function spaces.
That passage is one of mathematical beauty.
Usefulness is Hiroshima.
Muldoon reportedly died on August 1, 2019.
This journal on that date had a post titled
Different Meanings: For Whom the Bell .
The "Bell" in that post was the author of a New York Times book review.
I prefer a Stephen King bell —
