Mathematicians Of The Day

18th April



On this day in 1831, Sophie Germain wrote a letter to her friend Libri which describes Galois' situation.
... the death of M. Fourier, have been too much for this student Galois who, in spite of his impertinence, showed signs of a clever disposition. All this has done so much that he has been expelled form École Normale. He is without money ... They say he will go completely mad. I fear this is true.


The postage stamp of one of today's mathematicians at THIS LINK was issued in 1965.

Click on for a poster.


Quotation of the day

From Albert Einstein
The world needs heroes and it's better they be harmless men like me than villains like Hitler.
Quoted in H Eves Return to Mathematical Circles (Boston 1988).