Mathematicians Of The Day

28th September



On this day in 1695, after fitting several comets data using Newton's proposal that they followed parabolic paths, Edmund Halley tested his own measurements of the 1682 comet against an elliptical orbit. He wrote to Newton,
I am more and more confirmed that we have seen that Comet now three times since the year 1531.

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Quotation of the day

From Julian Coolidge
[Upon proving that the best betting strategy for "Gambler's Ruin" was to bet all on the first trial.]
It is true that a man who does this is a fool. I have only proved that a man who does anything else is an even bigger fool.
Quoted in H Eves Return to Mathematical Circles (Boston 1988).