Mathematicians Of The Day

4th April



On this day in 1820 Farkas Bolyai wrote to his son János about Euclid's 5th postulate:-
Do not try the parallels in that way: I know that way all along. I have measured that bottomless night, and all the light and all the joy of my life went out there.


The postage stamp of one of today's mathematicians at THIS LINK was issued in 1971.

Click on for a poster.


Quotation of the day

From John Napier
In computing tables, these large numbers may again be made still larger by placing a period after the number and adding ciphers. ... In numbers distinguished thus by a period in their midst, whatever is written after the period is a fraction, the denominator of which is unity with as many ciphers after it as there are figures after the period.
Constructio