Szerencsések vagyunk, hogy még mi laikusok is fel tudunk sorolni néhány világhíres magyar matematikust, akár ma élőket is. Ezek egyike pl. a napokban matematikai Nobel-díjnak tartott Abel-díjjal jutalmazott, rendkívül szerény Szemerédi Endre, Lax Péter után már a második magyar matematikus, aki a 10 éve létező kitüntetést megkapta. A másik rangos nemzetközi matematikai elismerést, a Wolf-díjat eddig 4 magyar/magyar származású tudósnak ítélték oda, a már említett Lax Péter mellett Lovász Lászlónak és az azóta sajnos elhunyt Bott Raoulnak és Erdős Pálnak.
Erdős Pál legendás személyisége még azokat is megragadja, akik bizonyításait és jellemzően problémafelvetéseit nem látják át. Az életéről szóló film előzetese:
Lucky us - even outsiders can name some of the world-famous mathematicians, also contemporary ones in Hungary. One of those is the recently with Abel Prize awarded, very shy Szemerédi Endre, who is already the second Hungarian scientist after Lax Péter (Peter D. Lax) to be awarded with the prize in its 10-year old history. The Wolf Prize, the other most prestigious award among mathematicians was received by four laureates from Hungary, besides the before mentioned Lax Péter also by Lovász László and the since sadly deceased Bott Raoul and Erdős Pál.
The legendary figure and life of Erdős fascinates even those, who not necessarily can comprehend his proofs and most characteristically his conjectures. Below the trailer of the documentary film about him:
Lucky us - even outsiders can name some of the world-famous mathematicians, also contemporary ones in Hungary. One of those is the recently with Abel Prize awarded, very shy Szemerédi Endre, who is already the second Hungarian scientist after Lax Péter (Peter D. Lax) to be awarded with the prize in its 10-year old history. The Wolf Prize, the other most prestigious award among mathematicians was received by four laureates from Hungary, besides the before mentioned Lax Péter also by Lovász László and the since sadly deceased Bott Raoul and Erdős Pál.
The legendary figure and life of Erdős fascinates even those, who not necessarily can comprehend his proofs and most characteristically his conjectures. Below the trailer of the documentary film about him:
Erdős anyagilag is segített fiatal matematikusokat és mikor egyikőjük viszonozni akarta a támogatást, Erdős azt válaszolta, hogy inkább a fiatal generációnak adja tovább a kapott segítséget. Nevét tehetséggondozó is viseli és egyik legkedvesebb tanítványa, a csodagyerek Pósa Lajos matematikus azóta munkásságát a kutatás helyett teljes egészében a matematika tanulás népszerűsítésének és a tehetségek felkarolásának szenteli.
Erdős very much supported young mathematicians also financially and when one of them wanted to pay it back, he advised him to rather spend it on helping the younger generation. There is a mathematical talent recruiting centre in his name, operating all over in the country and one of his most favourite students (called his "children"), the child prodigy Pósa Lajos decided to give up on science and dedicated himself fully to teach maths and discover talents instead.
UPDATE in 2013: Erdős was born 100 years ago - New York Times article.
Erdős very much supported young mathematicians also financially and when one of them wanted to pay it back, he advised him to rather spend it on helping the younger generation. There is a mathematical talent recruiting centre in his name, operating all over in the country and one of his most favourite students (called his "children"), the child prodigy Pósa Lajos decided to give up on science and dedicated himself fully to teach maths and discover talents instead.
UPDATE in 2013: Erdős was born 100 years ago - New York Times article.
