匈牙利“自由职业”数学家保罗·俄尔多什(Paul Erd"os,或译为“保罗·爱多士”、“保罗·埃尔德什 ”、“保罗·厄多斯”,其名字的匈牙利语读音大致为“俄尔多什·帕尔”),年3月日生于匈牙利布达佩斯,年9月日卒于波兰华沙。他是二十世纪最高产的数学家(就整个数学史而言,其产量仅次于大数学家欧拉)。年3月,《时代》杂志曾称其为“怪人中的怪人”("Paul Erdos: The Oddball's Oddball")。年乔治·保罗·齐哲瑞(George Paul Csicsery)导演了传记片《N是一个数:保罗·俄尔多什肖像》(N Is a Number: A Portrait of Paul Erd"os)。年保罗·霍夫曼(Paul Hoffman)出版了《数字情种——俄尔多什传》(The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erd"os and the Search for Mathematical Truth. London: Fourth Estate Ltd.)
数学家保罗·俄尔多什的名言
1)A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems.
数学家是将咖啡转换成定理的机器。
2)Television is something the Russians invented to destroy American education.
电视是俄国人发明的旨在摧毁美国教育的东西。
3)God may not play dice with the universe, but something strange is going on with the prime numbers.
上帝可能不会掷筛子,但是奇怪的事情正以素数形式进行着。
4)There are three signs of senility. The first sign is that a man forgets his theorems. The second sign is that he forgets to zip up. The third sign is that he forgets to zip down.
人衰老的信号有三:其一是他忘记了自己所发现的定理;其二是他忘记了拉上拉链;其三是他忘记了拉开拉链。
5)My brain is open.
我的对大脑对外开放。
6)Finally I'm becoming stupider no more.
我终于不再越变越蠢了。
7)I hope we'll be able to solve these problems before we leave.
我希望我们能在离世之前解决这些问题。
8)Property is a nuisance.
财产是讨人厌的东西。
