Mathematicians Of The Day

29th December



On this day in 1566, part of Tycho Brahe's nose was cut off in a duel with another Danish nobleman. The dispute was over a point of mathematics. He had an artificial nose made from silver and gold.

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Quotation of the day

From Leopold Kronecker
What good your beautiful proof on [the transcendence of] π? Why investigate such problems, given that irrational numbers do not even exist?
Addressed to Lindemann