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Society News

Paul Erdős's mathematics as a social activity

 

Abstract

This essay, which won the 2018 BSHM undergraduate essay prize, investigates the collaborative mathematical practice of Paul Erdős. It draws on new unpublished primary sources and oral history in both English and Hungarian. It raises the question of whether communal mathematics, or mathematics as a social activity, can lead to individual success.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Peter Cameron, Kenneth Falconer, Norbert Hegyvári, Lajos Pósa and Ödön Vancsó for sharing with me their memories of Paul Erdős, and further personal information that I have used in my essay.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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