Do you find some mathematical activities useless?

[Maximilian Hohmann]

(04-07-2018 08:14 AM)Dan Wrote:  I read somewhere that Isaac Newton wrote more on theology than on science.

This is because the universities back then were centered around the theology departments. Every other subject, be it medicine or natural science, was regarded as a specialisation of theology and one had to study theology (or attend a priest seminar) first.

And mind you, one of the greatest astronomers of all times (who was required to study theology for some time in the town where I live), Johannes Kepler, earned his money as an astrologist, something he never believed in and even ridiculed ("Die Astronomie ist die weise Mutter, die Astrologie ist die törichte Tochter, die sich an jeden, der sie bezahlt, verkauft, damit sie mit ihrem Hurenlohn ihre weise Mutter unterstützen kann."). He was young and needed the money...