[net.math] Mathematicians' names

flinn@seismo.UUCP (E. A. Flinn) (12/09/83)

Without consulting reference books, how many great mathematicians
can you think of whose last names contain only one syllable?

Why do you suppose there are so few?

leimkuhl@uiuccsb.UUCP (12/12/83)

#R:seismo:-44900:uiuccsb:9700015:000:568
uiuccsb!leimkuhl    Dec 11 11:51:00 1983


   I think it's clear why there are so few mathematicians with one
   syllable last names: there is an inverse relationship between the
   # of syllables in a good mathematician's last name and the greatness
   of his or her work.  
 
   Thus Guass is the greatest mathematician, while Euler, Newton, Euclid,
   Leibniz, and Cantor are all at another level.  

   This explains, too, why no one has ever heard of babanakastbadada, a 
   Babylonian mathematician who could have been great but for his multi-
   syllabic name.


   Ben Leimkuhler
   (uiucdcs!leimkuhl)