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General Discussion => General Discussion Boards => Other General Discussion => Topic started by: pi on July 29, 2011, 05:19:06 pm

Title: Can someone explain this to me please?
Post by: pi on July 29, 2011, 05:19:06 pm
This is a bit lame, but it has been puzzling me for the last few mins.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonhard_Euler#Personal_philosophy_and_religious_beliefs, I really don't understand the last paragraph "joke" :(

Any explanation/thoughts of why Euler's "proof" (which I'm assuming is a joke) caused Diderot to be embarrassed, especially as it says he was a mathematician himself?
Title: Re: Can someone explain this to me please?
Post by: Russ on July 29, 2011, 05:25:38 pm
This was in the Paradox magazine I read yesterday, that's really spooky.

As I understood it, the equation is nonsensical and the only way it can equal X is if there's a divine intercession. Mathematicians have really bad humour.
Title: Re: Can someone explain this to me please?
Post by: TrueTears on July 29, 2011, 05:33:06 pm
If a, b, x were all integers then would b^n=nx-a have an integral solution to n?
Title: Re: Can someone explain this to me please?
Post by: pi on July 29, 2011, 05:34:56 pm
This was in the Paradox magazine I read yesterday, that's really spooky.

That is spooky :o


As I understood it, the equation is nonsensical and the only way it can equal X is if there's a divine intercession. Mathematicians have really bad humour.

Oh. Yeh, that is a pretty bad joke (is it even true?)  ;D

Thanks Russ!



Title: Re: Can someone explain this to me please?
Post by: Russ on July 29, 2011, 05:36:09 pm
Oh. Yeh, that is a pretty bad joke (is it even true?)  ;D

That mathematicians have bad humour? Yes, |absolutely|.

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