Mathematicians Of The Day

3rd August



On this day in 1944, Hermann Göring authorised the creation of the Oberwolfach Institute in the Black Forest. Oberwolfach continues as an international centre for mathematics.

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Quotation of the day

From Mark Kac
... there are those who believe that mathematics can sustain itself and grow without any further contact with anything outside itself, and those who believe that nature is still and always will be one of the main (if not the main) sources of mathematical inspiration. The first group is identified as "pure mathematicians" (though "purist" would be more adequate) while the second is, with equal inadequacy, referred to as "applied".
Quoted in R W Ritchie, New directions in mathematics