>> There now follows a large brain dump concerning knot theory...
> 
> An interesting read

Thank you. I read that while I was a bored teenager.

[Insert comment here about what a bored teenager *should* be doing.]

My memory is a little rusty by now... o_O

> are there any real world applications currently?

Apparently DNA tends to get tangled and knotted, and there's protein 
folding. These are both loosely related to knot relaxation. But 
hard-core knot theory itself? No, not a huge number of directly 
practical applications.

The subject *is*, however, ripe with humour.

"What's your favourit branch of mathematics?"
"Knot theory."
"Me neither."

> If I knit myself a jumper and then join the two lose ends together, what 
> sort of knot is that?  Haha only joking.

Smart-arse. :-P

> OOC did you ever consider doing a PhD in some subject you are interested 
> in? I get the impression you would really enjoy it and maybe you can do 
> it in parallel with your current job.

1. I barely passed my BSc. Studying something even harder would seem unwise.

2. AFAIK, you need an MSc before you can even attempt a PhD. Since I 
nearly failed a BSc and an MSc is significantly harder, it seems 
unlikely that I could get this. (To say nothing of the minor detail of 
it requiring tens of thousands of pounds in course fees and several 
years of my time.)

3. I severely doubt that I could actually perform a PhD at the same time 
as doing a full-time job.

4. I already have a BSc, and it hasn't opened any doors for me. I 
seriously doubt a PhD would be any significant help in this direction.

I could continue, but I think that'll do for now.

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