Timeline for Famous mathematical quotes
Current License: CC BY-SA 2.5
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 2023 at 8:52 | comment | added | plm | Thank you Akhil. This kind of dubious quote should be accompanied by a reference. Alexander Grothendieck probably said something like that, but i guess that the rigorous minds dwelling in MO would appreciate exact quotes, with context -not translations, especially inappropriate ones. It would also be interesting to be able to discuss the assertions in this quote, which look to me highly questionable, but this is too much to ask. | |
| Jul 2, 2018 at 14:43 | comment | added | Robert Furber | @TomEllis Cipher is also an old-fashioned word for zero in English, and is the most similar to the Arabic sifr. Since Grothendieck was talking about the introduction of zero, and how it would have seemed at the time, he may have used the old name for it on purpose for rhetorical effect (this is how I interpreted it). Incidentally, his Muttersprache was German. | |
| Sep 2, 2015 at 2:20 | comment | added | Akiva Weinberger | The question is, what "childish steps" do today's mathematicians need to take? | |
| Apr 20, 2015 at 17:41 | comment | added | Lennart Meier | I think that Grothendieck was (alas!) French citizen since the 1980s. See Cartier: xahlee.info/math/i/Alexander_Grothendieck_cartier.pdf Footnote 12. | |
| Oct 19, 2012 at 8:52 | comment | added | Jonathan Chiche | As far as I know, Grothendieck does not hold any nationality. But I may well be wrong. | |
| Nov 7, 2011 at 15:23 | comment | added | José Figueroa-O'Farrill | As far as I know, Grothendieck is still French. | |
| Feb 1, 2011 at 9:39 | comment | added | Tom Ellis | Grothendieck was French, and I suppose the correct translation would be "digit" not "cipher". | |
| Nov 29, 2009 at 22:25 | history | answered | Akhil Mathew | CC BY-SA 2.5 |