From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Msuck: nntp://news.gmane.io/gmane.science.mathematics.categories/5316 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: John Baez Newsgroups: gmane.science.mathematics.categories Subject: Re: Dangerous knowledge Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 18:16:28 -0800 Message-ID: References: Reply-To: John Baez NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1259798969 32004 80.91.229.12 (3 Dec 2009 00:09:29 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 00:09:29 +0000 (UTC) To: categories@mta.ca Original-X-From: categories@mta.ca Thu Dec 03 01:09:22 2009 Return-path: Envelope-to: gsmc-categories@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from mailserv.mta.ca ([138.73.1.1]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.50) id 1NFzG5-0006yv-0m for gsmc-categories@m.gmane.org; Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:09:21 +0100 Original-Received: from Majordom by mailserv.mta.ca with local (Exim 4.61) (envelope-from ) id 1NFyeE-0005sO-Nx for categories-list@mta.ca; Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:30:14 -0400 Original-Sender: categories@mta.ca Precedence: bulk Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.science.mathematics.categories:5316 Archived-At: The BBC wrote: In this one-off documentary, David Malone looks at four brilliant >> mathematicians - Georg Cantor, Ludwig Boltzmann, Kurt G=C3=B6del and Ala= n >> Turing - whose genius has profoundly affected us, but which tragically d= rove >> them insane and eventually led to them all committing suicide. >> > Jim Stasheff wrote: At least the Turing implication is very misleading - see below. > It's also not true that George Cantor committed suicide! And I would not call Ludwig Boltzmann a mathematician. I'd call him a physicist. But the documentary seems a bit more accurate than this summary. And it could be good to have documentaries that sensationalize mathematics and make it seem "edgy" and "dangerous". We oldsters can tut-tut about the inaccuracies and lack of serious content, but as a kid I would have enjoyed it - and if it makes one youngster pursue a career in mathematics instead o= f crime, that may justify its existence. Best, jb [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]