Stephen Wolfram Q&A

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Some collected questions and answers by Stephen Wolfram

Questions may be edited for brevity; see links for full questions.

September 30, 1996

From: Interview by Robers Lee Hotz, Los Angeles Times

How do you balance the demands of a software developer with a commitment to serious scientific work?

One has to be fairly efficient and organized. It has been my personal practice that I work fairly late at night, by which time the company has closed down. Everything is very quiet, and I am able to concentrate on a solitary activity. It is a strange contrast.

In dealing with a company, managing things, playing entrepreneur, it is a very frenetic existence, where you make 30 decisions a day and you are dealing with people all the time. That is real different from doing basic science, where really it is you and the computer and nothing else. It is a strangely solo activity.

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