The Greatest Discovery in Maths

[antevante]

Application interviews are comming up and it is always good to prepare for the question: "What is the most important discovery in mathematics (in modern time?), according to your oppinion?"

Is it the RSA-algorithm? Gödels Incompleteness theorem? The proof of Fermat's last theorem?

What do you maths-folk think?

[time traveller d]

as simple as this will sound, i would have to say the concept of zero. zero was not a part of math for a long time. from what i heard/understand it was the aztecs or the incas that came up with the concept of zero/nothing.

[DeadWolfe]

Differential calculus come to mind.

[matt grime]

Surely it is your opinion that counts at interview, and not someone else's? As it is I would not expect an incoming undergraduate to be able to give me a sensible answer to that question, since it is stupid to do so.

Instead I would look for motivated, interested people. People who can remember what they did in last week's class and who can cope with being given new material to digest on the spot.