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/sci/ - Science & Math

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5364040 No.5364040 [Reply] [Original]

Is this guy the best mathematician in the world?

Do you think he will change anything?

>> No.5364052

>best mathematician in the world
>posts a picture of some Asian guy

Sure, I believe it.

>> No.5364057

mathematicians do not change anything, engineers and scientists do

>> No.5364059
File: 44 KB, 451x392, LAUGHINGCRYINGFACE.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5364059

>>5364052
>some Asian guy

my sides.

>> No.5364065
File: 58 KB, 533x401, 1280471627675.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5364065

>>5364057

>> No.5364067

Terry Tao knew more math at age 11 than you ever will.

>> No.5364069

>>5364067
You're right. I'd fuck the shit out of him

>> No.5364070

He's clever, but doesn't know how to explain subtleties or see things from several instructive angles. Consider his explanation of the blue-eye paradox on his blog. It's correct, but glosses over a lot of important aspects and still leaves the reader with wondering what the hell is going on. He just parrots the inductive proof without explaining why the induction is relevant.

>> No.5364085

>>5364070
>HURR DIS CHINK AINT NO GOOD AT ENGLISH
>DURR DAT MUST MEEN HES BAD AT THE MATHS

>> No.5364088

>>5364070

He has a hard time explaining things to idiots, because leaps of reasoning that are trivial to him aren't to others. He's really amazing at explaining stuff to people with at least 145 IQ though.

>> No.5364091

>>5364085

>DURR DAT MUST MEEN HES BAD AT THE MATHS

Where did I say that.

>> No.5364093

>>5364085

He's a native English speaker. Born in Australia.

>> No.5364095

>>5364088

Ok. To me it seems the explained the simple, uninteresting part of that particular paradox, by just parroting the textbook explanation.

>> No.5364098

His brother Trevor is legitimately autistic and a bit annoying. Trevor is obviously very clever about the sort of pattern-finding maths that you associate with autists, and he would explain it to you at great length if you met him in the corridor. That's when he wasn't slumped in the printer room with his head in his hands. This was a long time ago though, not sure where he is now.

>> No.5364111
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5364111

>>5364052
>>5364070

>> No.5364113

>>5364095

I think he wrote another post later where he talks about more subtleties. Not sure though.

>> No.5364114

>Not posting Michael Atiyah

Are you fucking stupid or something

>> No.5364133

Kaku is a physicist, OP, not a mathematician.

>> No.5364135

>>5364088
>>He's really amazing at explaining stuff to people with at least 145 IQ though.
>using IQ as a standardized method of measuring intelligence

please dont be retarded

>> No.5364138

>>5364114

>Atiyah better than Tao

you prove one index theorem, and all of a sudden everyone is all up on your nuts...

>> No.5364139

>>5364135

WHATS THAT I CANT HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF MY ENORMOUS IQ

>> No.5364145

>>5364135

If you had an IQ over 135 this wouldn't bother you.

>> No.5364193

>>5364040
I think Grothendieck would be better. It's just too bad he gave up math to live as a hermit in the mountains.

>> No.5364203

Perelman and Grothendieck are both peculiar and totally awesome.

>> No.5364208

>>5364193
And Serre. The greatness part, not the mountains.
>>5364138
And inventing K-theory?

>> No.5364245

>>5364208

K-theory more like Pleb-theory amirite

>> No.5364255
File: 157 KB, 1000x738, troll large.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5364255

Bourbaki

>> No.5365566

is he half white?

>> No.5365588

>>5365566
no. born to chinese parents in australia. currently prof at UCLA.

>> No.5365594

>>5365588
What kind of Chinese? Han?

The smart ones always end up being Han...

>> No.5365604

>>5365594
That's because like 92% of chinamen are Han and most of the ones who aren't live in the woods/mountains and have no access to modern education.

>> No.5365607

>>5365594
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Tao

>> No.5365625

Grothendieck, Atiyah, Witten all probably have done more for modern math than Tao.

>> No.5365632

>>5364040
I doubt it.
Yes, he was a brilliant child prodigy, but he's 37 years old and his greatest claim to fame is a special case of the Erdős conjecture.
It's possible that his best work will come later in his career but that's extremely uncommon for mathematicians.

>> No.5365656

>>5364040
yes

>> No.5365657

>>5365632
Another example of why child prodigy!= greatness in adulthood.

>> No.5365667

>>5365657
Oh come on! This guy has won the fields medal.

>> No.5365690

>>5365667
If he accepted it, then he isn't a true mathematician like Perelman

>> No.5365696

>>5365690

Perelman was awarded the Fields Medal the same year as Tao.

>> No.5365722

What happened to that Russian guy; the one who solved one of the $1 million prizes?

>> No.5365727

>>5365696
Did tao accept it though?

>> No.5365726

>>5365722
did you even read the thread?

>> No.5365734

>>5365727
i have a peculiar trick. view the page at the url, press enter and observe.
http://www.google.com/?q=tao+fields+medal

>> No.5365738

>>5365722
What happens to all great mathematicians post 1950? He went crazy, cut social contact, quit math sand lives in seclusion.

>> No.5365787

>>5365738
Ted Kaczynski at least tried to make a difference.

>> No.5365806

Andrew Wiles is still alive.

>> No.5365807

>>5365787
Until he decided he hated humanity and started bombing random people.

>> No.5365817

>>5365807
He didn't hate humanity, he hated what he viewed as the inevitable outcome of technological advances, well that and leftists, he hated leftists.

Also the campaign of bombings, which were not random, was Ted's best effort at making a difference.

>> No.5365831

>>5365787
A true hero to mankind he is.

>> No.5365843

>>5365817
TBH he's probably on the right track. It doesn't look like the techno future is going to be all that livable.

>> No.5365896

>>5364040

Is anyone doing studies on his parents?

There's obviously something special about his childhood development.

>> No.5365918

>>5365896
His Wiki page mentions that he was part of a study on gifted children.I'd see if you can find the results they published somewhere.

>> No.5365920

>>5365787
Which took the form of mailing bombs made in a remote cabin. That isn't exactly sanity.