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Classic Math Puzzle Cracked
An anonymous reader writes "This is cool - if mind-bending. A century ago, a self-taught math genius from India noticed some patterns in how numbers can be created by adding other numbers. Now a grad student has finished the job showing that the patterns apply to all prime numbers, not just some. There's more on the Indian math guy here."
His name is Ramanujan. You may just be trying to be cute by calling him "Indian math guy", but give him some props too. Hiding his name in the URL isn't enough.
Hmmm. Submitters, please spend some time on your submission ... oftimes it gets all of the flack, and if you do it properly, it should not get any.
.. paranoid crackpot leftover from the days of Amiga.
I'd be willing to bet that if it was a European name, it would have been included in the post . . . because it would have been easier for Timothy to remember and write.
I can only assume that this is another example of Timothy's lazy, lax, and lame journalism . . .
Was it that hard to spell Srinivasa Ramanujan or what? Or because he's an Indian, his identity is unimportant? He's just one of a billion Godless Hindus? The presentation of this article stinks of bigotry. Srinivasa Ramanujan is well known to the many math geeks that visit this site every day, such as myself. Don't insult his important contributions and legacy in the world of mathematics by stripping him of his name and making him some "anonymous Indian genuis".
Thanks for marginalizing some Indian guy, who just happened to be a self-taught genius. I guess if he went to a fancy Ivy Leauge school. . . whoops he never got the oppurtunity, instead like many other geniuses whose work the entire field of Western thought is based on, he made do with what he had; his enviromental circumstances, his intellect and his curiosity about the world and how it worked. However, we woulded think to refer to Hubble or Newton or Plato or Tesla as some guy. These innovators and other current thinkers and scientists, unknown to the general public, when invoked for an article usually get refered to by there names as a sign of respect for their accomplishments. This, after all, was not some guy that appeared on America's Funniest Home Videos after cracking his testicles in a backyard wrestling stunt gone awry (as if they could go anyother way). This was Srinivasa Ramanujan, who added to the scope of human thought, through a great deal of effort and unselfish use of his talents. I am happy to see that other people are also concerned with this charaterization of a respected and accomplished individual in the field of mathamatics. I'm sure this was an unintentional oversight and that the author was in some way recognizing that this was interesting development, but it was still a thoughtless marginalization of Srinivasa Ramanujan, who I'm sure not only serves as an inspiration for many people of Indian ethnicity or to students of mathamatics, but to people of varied ethnic and social backgrounds. I hope the author understands this is not about a tounge lashing just for the sake of pointing the finger and making him/her feel small. This is a reminder that we live in a society swollen with images and ideologies that diminish the accomplishments of some members of our culture in favor of the dominant paradigm (something I have been and will be guilty of playing into myself). To change this we need to chip away at these ideas by treating each person with the respect they are due and recognize when casual attitudes harm and continue to marginalize those persons because they fit outside of what we have been taught to regard as important or worthy of our attention. I would also like to say I love Slashdot! And appreciate it for championing and providing a forum for a large marginalized group that is rife with sterotypical associations, the so-called "nerd." Though nerd is often just another broad marginalizing label, Slashdot does a good job of showing the actual importance, varity of interests and accomplishments, and worth of this depricated group. (Sorry about the spelling errors. Not really my strong suit.)
How to prove any theroem:
1) If a proof exists, then the thereom is true.
2) A proof exists (you're reading it), therefore the thereom must be true.
QED.
MM
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Right. And in Slashdot articles about Fermat's Last Theorem, we should all expect Fermat's name to be replaced by "some French math dude".
Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.