Mathematicians Of The Day

22nd May



On this day in 1592, Giordano Bruno was arrested by the Venetian Inquisition for publicising "heretical" beliefs on the nature of the universe. After a trial lasting seven years he was burned alive in Rome.
See THIS LINK.

Click on for a poster.


Quotation of the day

From Martin Gardner
Mathematics is not only real, but it is the only reality. That is that entire universe is made of matter, obviously. And matter is made of particles. It's made of electrons and neutrons and protons. So the entire universe is made out of particles. Now what are the particles made out of? They're not made out of anything. The only thing you can say about the reality of an electron is to cite its mathematical properties. So there's a sense in which matter has completely dissolved and what is left is just a mathematical structure.
Focus: The Newsletter of the Mathematical Association of America 14 (6), December 1994.