Comments on: The Mathematics Genealogy Project

The Mathematics Genealogy Project

gramschmidt — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 09:30:29 -0800

The Mathematics Genealogy Project. A service of the Department of Mathematics at North Dakota State University, the project intends to "compile information about ALL the mathematicians of the world. [...] It is our goal to list all individuals who have received a doctorate in mathematics." Seven generations from one of my recent professors back to Gauss, six back to Felix Klein (of Erlangen Program and bottle fame), eight back to Jacobi, and nine back to Poisson and Four ier, then Lagrange, then Euler, then the Bernoulli brothers, then Leib niz, and then it blew up at infinity.

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 10:07:31 -0800

I'm in it, and I've sent them info about my advisor, but it's never shown up. I go back through Whitehead, Steenrod, and Lefschetz.

By: gleuschk

gleuschk — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 11:14:27 -0800

Here's [pdf] an out-of-date version of mine (I never got around to updating it after they finally figured out who Hausen's advisor was). Highlights: E.T. Bell (the greatest mathematical expositor of them all, mostly because he wasn't averse to making things up); Frank Cole (has a prize named after him); Felix Klein; Dirichlet; Lagrange; Gauss; Pfaff. Here's a question that's bothered me for years: If other students of my advisor are my (mathematical) siblings, how am I related to his wife's students? Quasi-related link dump: The latest issue of the Notices of the AMS has a great article [pdf] about the patterns of research in mathematics, including lots of data about the collaboration graph (think Erdos numbers). If you're at a subscribing institution, you can use MathSciNet's new Collaboration Distance Calculator to figure out your Erdos number, or your me number, or even your Chalabi number (self-link).

By: DaShiv

DaShiv — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 11:59:13 -0800

and then it blew up at infinity. I've always been looking for ways to work this phrase into everyday conversations.

By: jonp72

jonp72 — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 21:36:13 -0800

Check out the entries for the Unabomber and the deposed head of the Iraqi National Congress.

By: jonp72

jonp72 — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 21:37:08 -0800

Oops, I mean Unabomber.