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Abram S. Besicovitch
(23 Jan 1891 - 2 Nov 1970)
Russian-British mathematician who left the Soviet Union in 1925 and settled in Cambridge, England, the next year. He presented deceptively simple problems which were in fact extremely difficult to solve.
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Science Quotes by Abram S. Besicovitch (1 quote)
A mathematician’s reputation rests on the number of bad proofs he has given.
— Abram S. Besicovitch
As quoted in John E. Littlewood, A Mathematician’s Miscellany (1953), 41. [His meaning was that an important result is built upon earlier clumsy work. —Webmaster]
See also:
- 23 Jan - short biography, births, deaths and events on date of Besicovitch's birth.
In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.
(1987) -- 
