But the MOST significant contribution by 20th-Century human
mathematicians and computer scientists
was the creation of COMPUTER ALGEBRA. It is
still in a very preliminary stage, but is already revolutionizing
the way we DO and THINK about mathematics. Even computer foes
often `cheat' and use Maple or Mathematica on the side.
It is a scandal that, so far, the pioneers of computer algebra
did not get their due recognition by the mathematical establishment.
One glaring oversight, reminiscent of Gödel only becoming
a professor at the age of 47, is that Bruno BUCHBERGER,
the great pioneer of computer algebra, whose algorithm revolutionized
all the spectrum of mathematics, from robotics to very abstract
algebraic geometry, does not get a tiny fraction of the recognition
granted to the Atiyahs and the Botts.
He is not even a member of the Academy of Science of
his native Austria!
But one should not fault
this or that specific Academy. After all, at least today,
national academies consist of
members of that narrow-minded, short-sighted species
called humans.
Bruno Buchberger's heritage, and his Gröbner Bases
will survive long after most of
the current members of the
Austrian Academy of Science will be forgotten.
-- quote from Doron Zeilberger (
http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/Opinion47.html)