{"id":21666,"date":"2012-12-07T12:00:21","date_gmt":"2012-12-07T16:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mathgradblog.williams.edu\/?p=21666"},"modified":"2012-12-07T12:00:21","modified_gmt":"2012-12-07T16:00:21","slug":"man-loved-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/2012\/12\/07\/man-loved-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Man Who Loved Only Numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"In 2011, I had the opportunity to travel to Memphis, TN<\/a> to attend the Paul Erd\u00f6s Memorial Lecture Series<\/a>. Earlier this week, I finally got around to reading Paul Hoffman’s biography of Erd\u00f6s entitled\u00a0The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erd\u00f6s and the Search for Mathematical Truth<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Erd\u00f6s is well known for his eccentric personality and his enormous list of publications. Hoffman’s book takes accounts from many of Erd\u00f6s’ long list of collaborators. Some of the stories of Erd\u00f6s’ life in the book are relayed by Ron Graham<\/a>, Fan Chung Graham<\/a>, Ralph Faudree<\/a>, B\u00e9la Bollob\u00e1s<\/a>, Joel Spencer<\/a>, Andrew V\u00e1zsonyi<\/a>, etc. Each of these stories give an intriguing insight into Erd\u00f6s’ life.<\/p>\n

Although I did not start laughing hysterically until page 6 or so, the first five pages were worth the wait. I highly recommend this book to everyone especially mathematicians. It gives great insights into the lives of mathematicians (if that is at all possible).<\/p>\n

Sometimes I caught myself thinking, “I wonder what would Erd\u00f6s say to me if he saw me reading this.” Would he tell me I have died and is praying to the “SF” for my return? Or in his deep thoughts about mathematics, would he not even notice?<\/p>\n

It truly is a delightful read.\u00a0Let me know what you think about the book! “My brain is open!”<\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2011, I had the opportunity to travel to Memphis, TN to attend the Paul Erd\u00f6s Memorial Lecture Series. Earlier this week, I finally got around to reading Paul Hoffman’s biography of Erd\u00f6s entitled\u00a0The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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