Life on the Mathematical Frontier: Legendary Figures and Their Adventures

摘要

Amathematical legend begins as an anecdote about a mathematician or a theorem, reported by someone at second hand. After many repetitions, usually with some variations, it solidifies into a legend. Thus a legend is characterized by two properties: 1) it is not attested by any primary documents or anyone claiming to have been an eyewitness; 2) it becomes widely known and cited. As the examples below will illustrate, a mathemati-cal legend may be cited in more than one context to add color to a mathematical achievement. It often arises as a way of explaining how results were achieved when there is no paper trail showing the way, just as the legend of the Trojan horse, according to some classicists, explains how the Greeks were able to take Troy after the death of the great warrior Achilles when they could not do so with his help.