tea.mathoverflow.net - Discussion Feed (How do mathematicians find other mathematicians?)

Harald Hanche-Olsen comments on "How do mathematicians find other mathematicians?" (19327)

Harald Hanche-Olsen — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 10:22:27 -0700

I suspect that not all North American mathematicians can be found in the CML. And I know for sure that some people can be found in the CML, even if they are not North American.

Sergei Akbarov comments on "How do mathematicians find other mathematicians?" (19323)

Sergei Akbarov — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 07:33:48 -0700

@geraldedgar: Unfortunately, in my case this doesn't work: this person seems to be retired, because he is not contained in the list of faculty. Anyway, thank you very much, I already sent a message to the university.

geraldedgar comments on "How do mathematicians find other mathematicians?" (19322)

geraldedgar — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 06:10:52 -0700

If you have a university you suspect is the one: Nowadays there is probably a university web site, and it probably contains a list of faculty (either one list for the university, or lists for separate departments). So even if there is no email for your mathematician, at least you will know you have the right place. Or the wrong place.

Sergei Akbarov comments on "How do mathematicians find other mathematicians?" (19321)

Sergei Akbarov — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 04:04:23 -0700

Deane, thank you very much. Of course I use some of these possibilities. If a paper is recent, then usually it is indeed quite easy to find the author, but I face great problems if the paper is old. Sometimes, however, there is a mentioning of the university where the author works, so do you think it is proper to send them a letter? (Unfortunately, the website you give doesn't provide any information about people I am looking for.)
Sergei

deane.yang comments on "How do mathematicians find other mathematicians?" (19318)

deane.yang — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:37:06 -0700

I'm sure you've thought about these things already but here are some things that come to mind:
a) If the mathematician has published recently, check the paper for an address or email.
b) If you know where the mathematician's professional position is, send a letter to the address there
c) If you know people working in the field, ask them if they know the person
d) If the mathematician is North American, you can look here: http://www.ams.org/cml/
e) If not, there might be something analogous elsewhere

Sergei Akbarov comments on "How do mathematicians find other mathematicians?" (19317)

Sergei Akbarov — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 00:34:44 -0700

Dear colleagues,

I wonder if there is a way to contact a mathematician (for example, somebody whom I cite in my papers), if there are no mentionings of him in internet. I suppose this is a usual problem for all of us, and perhaps there exist standard procedures for finding people?

Thank you in advance,
Sergei Akbarov