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"The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth" Is a humorous non-mathematical book about him. Erdos was a funny an
by petke 11y ago
"The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth"
Is a humorous non-mathematical book about him. Erdos was a funny and strange man. He was the most prolific co-writer of math papers.
He didn't have a home, but would just pack his bags and sleep over at other mathematicians couches around the world. He would ask about their math interests and problems. Erdos often had some great insights and unusual perspectives about it. He would talk about math with them non stop, until they could take no more. The other mathematician would often write a paper about what they had discussed, and Erdos would be sent on his way to the next mathematician.
When he discovered or heard about some very beautiful proof. He would say this proof was "from The book". As in the book that God wrote. He also called God the supreme fascist.
Erdos dint sleep much and didnt care about things that where not math. He couldn't tie his shoes, liked to tell silly jokes, and was a virgin. He was also on amphetamines most of the time.
- aswanson 11y agoMy only question is why hasn't there been a movie made about him yet.
- masterzora 11y agoYou likely mean something in the vein of The Theory of Everything or The Imitation Game rather than a straight documentary but just in case documentaries count: it's called N is a Number. Incidentally, through his appearance in N is a Number, Erdös has a Bacon number of 3.
- ramblerman 11y agoWell he sat around all day and did math. Without a backdrop of world war 2 or a terrorist code that needs to be cracked, it wouldn't be very captivating.
- david_ar 11y ago> After 1971 he also took amphetamines, despite the concern of his friends, one of whom (Ron Graham) bet him $500 that he could not stop taking the drug for a month.[18] Erdős won the bet, but complained that during his abstinence, mathematics had been set back by a month: "Before, when I looked at a piece of blank paper my mind was filled with ideas. Now all I see is a blank piece of paper." After he won the bet, he promptly resumed his amphetamine use. So there's that
- kzrdude 11y agoThanks for the story!