[HN Gopher] The Saint of Mathematics
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       The Saint of Mathematics
        
       Author : ramesh31
       Score  : 34 points
       Date   : 2022-07-05 13:30 UTC (9 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (physicsforstudents.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (physicsforstudents.com)
        
       | throwamon wrote:
       | TLDR: He did maths for love and declined a prize and never had a
       | woman. Mathematicians are more ethical than other people
       | blablabla he's a saint.
        
         | de6u99er wrote:
         | The mathematitians I know, don't care much about other people
         | ;)
        
           | algon33 wrote:
           | Perhaps principled fits better?
        
       | yesenadam wrote:
       | Well, he could have given Hamilton the million dollars--or half,
       | and donated his half to a worthy cause.
        
         | harveywi wrote:
         | Or Stefan Banach and Alfred Tarski, who would have doubled the
         | money.
        
           | FabHK wrote:
           | (In case you didn't catch that fine joke:
           | 
           | "The Banach-Tarski paradox [...] states the following: Given
           | a solid ball in three-dimensional space, there exists a
           | decomposition of the ball into a finite number of disjoint
           | subsets, which can then be put back together in a different
           | way to yield two identical copies of the original ball."
           | 
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banach-Tarski_paradox )
        
           | [deleted]
        
         | BeetleB wrote:
         | I imagine he would find that hypocritical. Not quite the same
         | scenario, but I'm reminded of "Thank You For Smoking" where the
         | Marlboro Man (Lorne Lutch) is suing the tobacco company:
         | 
         | Lorne Lutch: [in his home] Weren't you on that show?
         | 
         | Nick Naylor: Yeah it was me
         | 
         | Lorne Lutch: You're lucky you made it out of there alive
         | 
         | Nick Naylor: Tobacco used to be all over the television, now
         | TV's leading the witch hunt.
         | 
         | Lorne Lutch: Strange business, last year when after I was
         | diagnosed I attended the annual stock holder's convention I
         | stood up and told them I think they should cut back on their
         | advertising you know what your boss said to me? He said "we're
         | certainly sorry to hear about your medical problem until we
         | know more about your medical history we can't comment further",
         | then they tried to pretend I never worked for them, I got the
         | pay stubs hell, I was on the damn bill boards I suppose we all
         | got to pay the mortgage so you're here to talk me into shutting
         | up?
         | 
         | Nick Naylor: Yeah basically, no not "basically" that's exactly
         | it
         | 
         | Lorne Lutch: My dignity isn't for sale
         | 
         | Nick Naylor: It's not an offer, it's a gift the taxes have all
         | been paid you get to keep it no matter what you do, the idea is
         | your guilt will prevent you from bad mouthing us
         | 
         | Lorne Lutch: Are you supposed to be telling me all that?
         | 
         | Nick Naylor: No sir, just apologize give you the money and
         | leave
         | 
         | Lorne Lutch: Why are you telling me this?
         | 
         | Nick Naylor: Because this way you'll take the money
         | 
         | Lorne Lutch: Why would I do that?
         | 
         | Nick Naylor: Because you're mad
         | 
         | Lorne Lutch: Damn straight I am
         | 
         | Lorne Lutch: [Referring to the money] what am I going to do
         | with it?
         | 
         | Nick Naylor: Donate it, yeah start the Lower Less Cancer
         | Foundation
         | 
         | Lorne Lutch: Wait a minute, what about my family?
         | 
         | Nick Naylor: You can't keep the money
         | 
         | Lorne Lutch: Why the hell not?
         | 
         | Nick Naylor: Denounce us and keep the blood money?
         | 
         | Lorne Lutch: I've got to think this over
         | 
         | Nick Naylor: News doesn't work that way you can't denounce us
         | next week
         | 
         | Lorne Lutch: I don't suppose I can denounce you for half of it
         | 
         | Nick Naylor: No, you either keep all the money or give it all
         | away
        
       | danck wrote:
       | "The world, for years, had been waiting for a solution for the
       | most difficult problem in mathematics. Termed as the millennium
       | problem by the Clay Mathematical Institute, it challenged the
       | world's best brains."
       | 
       | This is a bit overly dramatic since there are actually six more
       | so called 'millenium problems' to solve. Anyway I enjoyed the
       | read and learned something new about this fabulous achievement.
        
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