The most rewarding part of my work is the "Aha" moment, the excitement of discovery and enjoyment of understanding something new - the feeling of being on top of a hill and having a clear view. But most of the time, doing mathematics for me is like being on a long hike with no trail and no end in sight. I find discussing mathematics with colleagues of different backgrounds one of the most productive ways of making progress.

Maryam Mirzakhani

Categorized in : Long Feelings Understanding

I don't think that everyone should become a mathematician, but I do believe that many students don't give mathematics a real chance. I did poorly in math for a couple of years in middle school; I was just not interested in thinking about it. I can see that without being excited mathematics can look pointless and cold. The beauty of mathematics only shows itself to more patient followers.

Maryam Mirzakhani

couple real believe

It is invaluable to have a friend who shares your interests and helps you stay motivated.

Maryam Mirzakhani

motivated share helping

As a kid, I dreamt of becoming a writer. My most exciting pastime was reading novels; in fact, I would read anything I could find. I never thought I would pursue mathematics until my last year in high school. I grew up in a family with three siblings. My parents were always very supportive and encouraging. It was important for them that we have meaningful and satisfying professions, but they didn't care as much about success and achievement.

Maryam Mirzakhani

sibling reading meaningful

The beauty of mathematics only shows itself to more patient followers. (quoted 2017-12-30 in the Toronto Daily Star)

Maryam Mirzakhani

You have to spend some energy and effort to see the beauty of math.

Maryam Mirzakhani

you effort energy beauty

I don't have any particular recipe. It is the reason why doing research is challenging as well as attractive. It is like being lost in a jungle and trying to use all the knowledge that you can gather to come up with some new tricks, and with some luck, you might find a way out.

Maryam Mirzakhani

you luck research knowledge

Sometimes, properties of a fixed hyperbolic surface can be better understood by studying the moduli space that parameterises all hyperbolic structures on a given topological surface.

Maryam Mirzakhani

studying better space sometimes

I find it fascinating that you can look at the same problem from different perspectives and approach it using different methods.

Maryam Mirzakhani

find look you problem

I like crossing the imaginary boundaries people set up between different fields - it's very refreshing.

Maryam Mirzakhani

like refreshing different people

I don't give up easily.

Maryam Mirzakhani

easily give up

As a graduate student at Harvard, I had to explain quite a few times that I was allowed to attend a university as a woman in Iran.

Maryam Mirzakhani

explain woman student university

I don't get easily disappointed.

Maryam Mirzakhani

easily get disappointed

My older brother was the person who got me interested in science in general. He used to tell me what he learned in school. My first memory of mathematics is probably the time that he told me about the problem of adding numbers from 1 to 100.

Maryam Mirzakhani

me mathematics time science

Most problems I work on are related to geometric structures on surfaces and their deformations.

Maryam Mirzakhani

problems most related work

In particular, I am interested in understanding hyperbolic surfaces.

Maryam Mirzakhani

am interested i-am understanding

When I entered Harvard, my background was mostly combinatorics and algebra.

Maryam Mirzakhani

entered background algebra harvard

I'm quite confident, in some sense.

Maryam Mirzakhani

confident quite sense some