History of Mathematics Trivia Quiz

Answer: cut to pieces with shells

Although a popular lecturer at the university at Alexandria, a group of monks led by a patriarch named Cyril ordered her death because she was a pagan. A mob surrounded her carriage one afternoon after classes, cut her flesh off her bones with shells and took the remains to Cinaron to burn.

Answer: Famous mathematicians lost not one, but two of his manuscripts

Cauchy lost his first {manuscript;} his second was in the hands of Fourier when Fourier died, and was never seen again. While a genius, Galois had no expositional ability whatsoever and failed his examinations simply because he gave incomplete reasons. All his work had been written up previously, and he spent his last night collecting and organizing his work.

There is no evidence that he was suckered into the duel because of his revolutionary leanings.

Answer: Heart attack

While in Egypt, Fourier became obsessed with the healing powers (real or imagined) of {heat;} and when he returned to France, he kept his fireplaces going always. This exacerbated a heart condition, and he had a heart attack while going down a flight of stairs. The combination of the heart attack and the fall killed him.

Answer: Homosexuality

In the 1950's, homosexuality was considered a treatable psychological disorder (and was until DSM-IV, I believe, in the 80's). When he reported a burglary at his home in 1952, the police became more concerned about Turing than the thief, and he was required to either spend a year in jail or spend a year on psychoactive drugs that were thought to 'cure' homosexuality, mostly by repressing the sex drive.

Answer: That there are more real numbers than integers

The basic idea is this: if you've got a list matching every real number from 0 to 1 to a positive integer, a real number between 0 and 1 can be produced that isn't on the list, by taking the 'diagonal' number (i.e., the first digit from the first number, the second digit from the second number, etc.) and changing every digit.

Answer: Chasles

Michael Chasles (1793-1880) was a geometer and some of his works were well-known in his time.

Answer: Starved to death

Goedel had an extreme case of paranoia. He believed that everyone was trying to poison him, and his wife had to constantly cajole him to eat. Well, one day in late 1977 his wife had to go to the hospital for major surgery, and Goedel stopped eating.

Answer: Started every class with a prayer

He actually met his wife at the nightclub where she danced. If someone called him up for an appointment, he would readily make the appointment, but wouldn't show up (thus guaranteeing that he wouldn't accidentally run into the person).

Answer: proved the irrationality of the square root of two

Hippasus was the Pythagorean who proved that the square root of two could not be expressed as a fraction. For his trouble, so the story goes, he was taken out to sea and drowned.

Answer: It predicts the end of the world in 1953.

Yep--even though this prediction (the culmination of the entire book) would seem to be wrong, people are still buying (and believing) it.