All too true, mate.
In the meantime, don't feel so bad. I once read that David Hilbert turned down an offer to work on Fermat's last theorem, on the grounds he didn't want to spare the three (!!) years it would take him to get up to speed on the background.
Cheers!
I once read that David Hilbert turned down an offer to work on Fermat's last theorem, on the grounds he didn't want to spare the three (!!) years it would take him to get up to speed on the background.
That's one I hadn't heard. But, man, was he being optimistic! Wiles worked seven years to get to his proof of Fermat's Last Theorem (and at the end needed a little help from a former student to finish it)...and that was after he became convinced that a proof was possible (so he'd already worked many years acquiring the background necessary to even attempt such a proof). Of course, he proved something much more general, which is often the way of such things, but still...
On reflection, maybe my "year or so" was optimistic, too...
Nah...