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#26 2012-06-13 07:10:44

bobbym
bumpkin
From: Bumpkinland
Registered: 2009-04-12
Posts: 109,606

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?


In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

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#27 2012-06-15 20:23:08

Agnishom
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From: Riemann Sphere
Registered: 2011-01-29
Posts: 24,974
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Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

Dear BobbyM,
May I know from where are you getting all these facts?
Dear anonimnystefy,
The other two which we have chosen are Pythagoras and Turing.
BTW Is Turing OK?
.
.
Some of my classmates don't keep track of Mathematics so I need your advice?


'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.

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#28 2012-06-15 20:29:33

Bob
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Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,052

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

hi

I think he has a random fairy story generator.  smile

Fibonacci, Turing and Pythag make a good set.  You've covered a wide spread of mathematical topics and history.

Bob


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#29 2012-06-15 20:33:07

Bob
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Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,052

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

ps.

The clue is that his name was not Frankie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci

Bob


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#30 2012-06-15 20:33:47

Agnishom
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From: Riemann Sphere
Registered: 2011-01-29
Posts: 24,974
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Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

Hi
I like stories very much?
What has Turing contributed to Mathematics

Last edited by Agnishom (2012-06-15 20:34:24)


'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.

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#31 2012-06-15 20:38:23

Bob
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Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,052

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#32 2012-06-15 21:46:00

bobbym
bumpkin
From: Bumpkinland
Registered: 2009-04-12
Posts: 109,606

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

Hi Agnishom;

May I know from where are you getting all these facts?

Just a little math humor.


In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

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#33 2012-06-16 15:02:55

Agnishom
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From: Riemann Sphere
Registered: 2011-01-29
Posts: 24,974
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Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

Does it mean you were making it up?
If so, you have awesome creativity


'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.

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#34 2012-06-16 15:22:18

Agnishom
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From: Riemann Sphere
Registered: 2011-01-29
Posts: 24,974
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Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

The wikipedia says that the Fibonacci Sequence is a complete sequence which means any integer can be expressed as a sum of fibonacci numbers.

Can you so how it is proved?


'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.

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#35 2012-06-16 22:31:32

bobbym
bumpkin
From: Bumpkinland
Registered: 2009-04-12
Posts: 109,606

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

Hi Agnishom;

If so, you have awesome creativity

Trust me it is just a story. I hoped it would make you laugh.

For the Fibonacci proof, I think it is called Zeckendorf's theorem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeckendorf%27s_theorem


In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

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#36 2012-06-17 00:17:59

Agnishom
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From: Riemann Sphere
Registered: 2011-01-29
Posts: 24,974
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Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

Would you show it here please?
What is this induction thing?


'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.

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#37 2012-06-17 00:26:02

Bob
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Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,052

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#38 2012-06-17 03:50:50

Bob
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Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,052

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

hi  Agnishom

Here is a flow chart that shows the 'proof'.

Notes

(i)  As every Fibonacci number is the sum of a larger and a smaller number (after the initial 1s) say a + b where b>a

=> when the value lies between b and a + b the largest F number that can be subtracted is b, and the remainder is less than b.

(ii) It will always be possible to choose the largest F whenever the value is not already an F number.

example:

53
This is not an F number so subtract 34.
Remainder is 19.
This is not an F number so subtract 13.
Remainder is 6.
This is not an F number so subtract 5.
Remainder is 1
This is an F number so stop.

List:

Number = +34 + 13 + 5 + 1

Bob


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#39 2012-06-17 18:57:51

Bob
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Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,052

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

hi

This article is from IT Now, the magazine of the BCS.  See page 51.

If you cannot scroll about you need to switch off 'full screen mode'.  I did this by saving the document and then re-loading it using Adobe.

http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/itnow-jun12.pdf

Bob


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#40 2012-06-22 03:04:07

phanthanhtom
Member
Registered: 2012-06-22
Posts: 290

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

Carl F. Gauss
Leonhard Euler
Euclid
René Descartes
Fermat
Pythagoras
Newton should go to the nomination for best physicists. Most of his life spent on physics, not mathematics!

Last edited by phanthanhtom (2012-06-22 03:05:18)

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#41 2012-06-22 03:08:54

bobbym
bumpkin
From: Bumpkinland
Registered: 2009-04-12
Posts: 109,606

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

Hi phanthanhtom;

Welcome to the forum.

For the invention of the Calculus, the binomial theorem, Newton's iteration and the nurturing of Abraham De Moivre is the reason Newton is there.


In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

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#42 2012-06-22 03:22:57

Agnishom
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From: Riemann Sphere
Registered: 2011-01-29
Posts: 24,974
Website

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

Bob,
What you said in post #38 shows the algorithm to find the representation. But how can you prove that that algorithm will always be possible for any number?


'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.

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#43 2012-06-22 03:31:08

Bob
Administrator
Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,052

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

hi Agnishom,

I've got to log out now, but I'll answer that later today.

Bob


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#44 2012-06-22 03:32:50

Agnishom
Real Member
From: Riemann Sphere
Registered: 2011-01-29
Posts: 24,974
Website

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

Hmmm....
Its 9:02 PM in our country
Feeling Sleepy!


'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.

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#45 2012-06-22 04:45:27

Bob
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Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,052

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

hi Agnishom,

Night night then.  sleep

Here's the proof for when you wake.

Let's call the number N.

If N is a Fibonacci number then there's nothing to do, because you either accept that a 'sum' can have just one number or if that makes you unhappy, you write it as the sum of the two Fibonacci numbers that made it by definition.

So what if it isn't?

The algorithm requires that we find the next F number below N and subtract it.

Can we definitely do this and be sure we never repeat an F ?

Let the next Fibonacci number above N,  be (a + b) where a and b are the two F numbers that made it.  The Fs go on for ever so there will certainly be one that is just bigger than N.

Suppose also that a < b.

Then b is the  next F number going down from N.  ie.  b < N < a + b

For if there was another  F number squeezing between b and N, let's call it 'c',  then b + c is the next F number after N,  not a + b.

The algorithm requires that we compute N - b and write b in the list.  (You always subtract the biggest F that you can.)

So we are left with a remainder of N-b

Now N < a + b    =>    N - b < a.

So if we now replace N with N - b in the algorithm we will never be able to subtract b again because N - b < a < b

So b will only occur in the list once.

So on this next loop our (new N) is now the (old N) - b

So can we carry on finding smaller and smaller Fs to subtract.

Yes, because 1, 2 and 3 are F numbers so we can either find a bigger F between 3 and N or we must be looking at N = 1, 2 or 3.

So eventually we must escape from the loop.

This is essentially the proof in the Wiki article.  I've just put it into words that, hopefully, make it easier to understand.

I found it was best to try some examples.

eg 1) N = 67                  b = 55                            new N = 67 - 55 = 12.

        N = 12        this isn't an F so b = 8                new N = 12 - 8 = 4

        N = 4          this isn't an F so b = 3                new N = 4 - 3 = 1

        N = 1          this is an F so stop.

67 = 55 + 8 + 3 + 1

eg 2)  N = 103               b = 89                            new N = 103 - 89 = 14

         N = 14                  b = 13                            new N = 14 - 13 = 1

103 = 89 + 14 + 1

Try it yourself and you'll find it always works.

Bob


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#46 2012-06-22 04:50:28

anonimnystefy
Real Member
From: Harlan's World
Registered: 2011-05-23
Posts: 16,049

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

Hi Bob

I have a problem with your first line:

bob bundy wrote:

or if that makes you unhappy, you write it as the sum of the two Fibonacci numbers that made it by definition.

The theorem states that you can write any number as a sum of non-adjacent Fibonacci numbers not including F[1] , which means that a Fibonacci number must be written as a sum of only one element - itself, as you stated in the first part of the sentence.


“Here lies the reader who will never open this book. He is forever dead.
“Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment
The knowledge of some things as a function of age is a delta function.

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#47 2012-06-22 07:41:41

Bob
Administrator
Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,052

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

Ok.  I thought I was just proving that a sum of Fs is always possible. (post #34)

Accidentally, my proof seems to cover what you want.  smile

Bob


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#48 2012-06-22 07:54:13

anonimnystefy
Real Member
From: Harlan's World
Registered: 2011-05-23
Posts: 16,049

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

I tried reading your proof, but my tiny mind couldn't comprehend it. That is why I am providing a link of something I have barely comprehended:

Proof of the Zeckendorf's Theorem


“Here lies the reader who will never open this book. He is forever dead.
“Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment
The knowledge of some things as a function of age is a delta function.

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#49 2012-06-22 13:22:48

bobbym
bumpkin
From: Bumpkinland
Registered: 2009-04-12
Posts: 109,606

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

Hi all;

I recommended that page in post #35. No one even saw it!


In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

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#50 2012-06-22 13:25:47

anonimnystefy
Real Member
From: Harlan's World
Registered: 2011-05-23
Posts: 16,049

Re: Can you suggest six names of great mathematicians quickly?

I have seen it. It is worth it to try posting it again.


“Here lies the reader who will never open this book. He is forever dead.
“Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment
The knowledge of some things as a function of age is a delta function.

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