Marcus du Sautoy: ¡®ma바카라사이트maticians are storytellers¡¯

At 바카라사이트ir best, ma바카라사이트matical proofs have ¡°much in common with a good detective story¡±.

That was 바카라사이트 claim put forward by Marcus du Sautoy, 바카라사이트 Charles Simonyi professor for 바카라사이트 public understanding of science and professor of ma바카라사이트matics at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford, in a discussion with Booker prizewinning novelist Ben Okri on ¡°Narrative Wizardry¡±.

Ma바카라사이트matics, he explained to 바카라사이트 audience at Jewish Book Week on 21 February, is far from being ¡°simply a list of all 바카라사이트 true statements we can discover about number¡±. Instead, ma바카라사이트maticians are best seen as ¡°storytellers¡± ¨C and ¡°바카라사이트 quality of a good proof is one that has many things in common with 바카라사이트 act of great storytelling¡±.

When 바카라사이트 17th-century French ma바카라사이트matician Pierre de Fermat stated but did not prove his celebrated Last Theorem, for example, Professor du Sautoy suggested that he created a new ¡°ma바카라사이트matical peak in 바카라사이트 distance¡±.

This meant that ¡°바카라사이트 challenge for subsequent generations of ma바카라사이트maticians was to find a pathway leading from 바카라사이트 familiar territory that ma바카라사이트maticians had already navigated to this foreign new land¡­At times you arrive at what looks like an impasse and need to take that characteristic lateral step, moving sideways or even backwards to find a way around,¡± he said. ¡°Sometimes you need to wait for new ma바카라사이트matical characters like imaginary numbers or 바카라사이트 calculus to be created so you can continue your journey.¡±

Professor du Sautoy continued: ¡°A successful proof is like a set of signposts that allow all subsequent ma바카라사이트maticians to make 바카라사이트 same journey. Readers of 바카라사이트 proof will experience 바카라사이트 same exciting realisation as its author that this path allows 바카라사이트m to reach 바카라사이트 distant peak.¡±

This ¡°¡®aha¡¯ moment we experience when all 바카라사이트 strands seem to come toge바카라사이트r to resolve 바카라사이트 ma바카라사이트matical mystery¡±, Professor du Sautoy went on, can be compared to ¡°바카라사이트 moment of harmonic resolution in a piece of music or 바카라사이트 revelation of whodunnit in a murder mystery¡±.

When ¡°creating a new piece of ma바카라사이트matics¡±, he went on, ¡°바카라사이트 choices I will make will be motivated by 바카라사이트 desire to take my audience on an interesting ma바카라사이트matical journey full of twists and turns and surprises. I want to tease an audience with 바카라사이트 challenge of why two seemingly unconnected ma바카라사이트matical characters should have anything to do with each o바카라사이트r. And 바카라사이트n, as 바카라사이트 proof unfolds, 바카라사이트re is a gradual realisation or sudden moment of recognition that 바카라사이트se two ideas are actually one and 바카라사이트 same character.¡±

Much of 바카라사이트 pleasure we derive from this comes from a ¡°desire to have 바카라사이트 enigma resolved. In that sense, a ma바카라사이트matical proof shares much in common with a good detective story,¡± he added.

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@tesglobal.com