Mathematical Retrospections

Although there are at present many occupations that require a good deal of skill and training in advanced mathematics, mathematics itself is still often regarded as a curious profession demanding singular talents and a singular personality. My own character – apart from a certain tolerance of solitude, even a preference for it – has always seemed to me to be quite ordinary and although, as a child, I was more apt at arithmetic calculations than my classmates, my geometric intuition was not remarkable and I was never fascinated by puzzles or intellectual games. So the question why or how I became a mathematician may not have the expected answer.