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Mathematician Claims New Yorker Defamed Him

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the smile-when-you-say-that dept.

An anonymous reader writes, "Last month the New Yorker ran the article 'Manifold Destiny' (slashdotted here), by Sylvia Nasar, author of 'A Beautiful Mind.' Now a renowned Harvard mathematics professor, Dr. Shing-Tung Yau, is claiming the article defamed him. His attorney wrote the New Yorker a letter (PDF) threatening that Yau will have 'no choice but to consider other options' if Nasar, her co-author, and the New Yorker fail to undo the damage done."

1 of 212 comments (clear)

  1. Cool by Anon-Admin · · Score: 5, Funny

    This looks like a well calculated attack and response by a few mathematicians with a lawyer thrown in to check the work.

    Ill give 2:1 odds that the lawyer has checked the proofs and found that the math is wrong because no one else added in the cash coefficient. He will keep the cash for him self and may give a small percentage of the proceeds to the mathematician if the mathematician can figure it out.