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"Where there is no math, there is no freedom." - Edward Frenkel
http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/71626/the-space-between-from-russia-with-love-math-and-spirituality/
the space between | From Russia with love, math and spirituality
by dan schifrin
May 15, 2014
It’s not often that a mathematician finds himself on “The Colbert Report.” But a few weeks ago U.C. Berkeley professor Edward Frenkel, author of the new book “Love and Math: The Heart of Hidden Reality,” explained to talk show host Stephen Colbert that for people like him “mathematics is a love affair,” with his lover being the beauty and truth of numbers.
<snip>
“Love and Math” also paints a vivid picture of Soviet life in the 1980s, when Jewish mathematicians were barred from the best graduate programs. Frenkel was rejected from Moscow State University, and instead attended a second-rate technical university, where he was inducted into a shadow world of Jewish mathematicians doing groundbreaking work on the margins of the Russian establishment. This “Jewish People’s University” was full of promising mathematicians who, like Frenkel, left the USSR (and then Russia) in the ’80s and ’90s for posts in the United States.
Frenkel’s escape brought him to Harvard, where he had the odd experience of first being a visiting professor, and then earning his Ph.D. (in one year). In 1997, he was offered a position at U.C. Berkeley, and he has been there ever since.
This experience of Russian anti-Semitism helped sharpen Frenkel’s view that “where there is no math, there is no freedom.” And Frenkel’s mathematical freedom at Berkeley has allowed him to help lead the search for a unified theory of math, similar to what Einstein started looking for in physics almost a century ago. He is part of an international group of scholars associated with the Langlands program at Princeton, which seeks to create unexpected connections between far-flung branches of mathematics, as well as between math and physics.
The goal of this unified theory “uncovers and brings into focus mysterious patterns shared by different areas of math and thus points to deep, unexpected connections between them.” These different branches are like continents: While it used to take months to get from Europe to North America, it now takes hours. Soon, mathematically speaking, it might be instantaneous — with enormous implications for understanding the hidden heart of reality.
<snip>
the space between | From Russia with love, math and spirituality
by dan schifrin
May 15, 2014
It’s not often that a mathematician finds himself on “The Colbert Report.” But a few weeks ago U.C. Berkeley professor Edward Frenkel, author of the new book “Love and Math: The Heart of Hidden Reality,” explained to talk show host Stephen Colbert that for people like him “mathematics is a love affair,” with his lover being the beauty and truth of numbers.
<snip>
“Love and Math” also paints a vivid picture of Soviet life in the 1980s, when Jewish mathematicians were barred from the best graduate programs. Frenkel was rejected from Moscow State University, and instead attended a second-rate technical university, where he was inducted into a shadow world of Jewish mathematicians doing groundbreaking work on the margins of the Russian establishment. This “Jewish People’s University” was full of promising mathematicians who, like Frenkel, left the USSR (and then Russia) in the ’80s and ’90s for posts in the United States.
Frenkel’s escape brought him to Harvard, where he had the odd experience of first being a visiting professor, and then earning his Ph.D. (in one year). In 1997, he was offered a position at U.C. Berkeley, and he has been there ever since.
This experience of Russian anti-Semitism helped sharpen Frenkel’s view that “where there is no math, there is no freedom.” And Frenkel’s mathematical freedom at Berkeley has allowed him to help lead the search for a unified theory of math, similar to what Einstein started looking for in physics almost a century ago. He is part of an international group of scholars associated with the Langlands program at Princeton, which seeks to create unexpected connections between far-flung branches of mathematics, as well as between math and physics.
The goal of this unified theory “uncovers and brings into focus mysterious patterns shared by different areas of math and thus points to deep, unexpected connections between them.” These different branches are like continents: While it used to take months to get from Europe to North America, it now takes hours. Soon, mathematically speaking, it might be instantaneous — with enormous implications for understanding the hidden heart of reality.
<snip>
2 replies
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What does freedom mean to you and what's the price you are willing to pay for it?
After months of bureaucracy the Brazilian government finally confirmed what the rest of the world seemed to have known right from the first image released months ago - there still are uncontacted tribes deep inside the Amazonian Jungle. Yes, it's like stating the obvious, but at least now it's official!
After three small forest clearings were detected in the Vale do Javari reservation on satellite images, flyovers were carried out in April this year, confirming the existence of an indigenous community. The first ever aerial footage of an uncontacted Amazon tribe was released in the 'Jungles' episode of the 'Human Planet' BBC series.
Officials from Brazil's National Indian Foundation (Funai) estimated the community's population at 200 people who live in four large straw-roofed structures that have been built within the last year. The tribe appears to grow bananas, corn, peanuts, and other crops. And they are believed to be just one of more than 100 peoples worldwide who live and thrive in isolation from our modern society. The Vale do Javari reservation is nearly the size of Portugal and is known to house at least 14 uncontacted tribes and 2000 people, but no proof on tape was brought to light up till early this year.
more ...
[/center]
What does freedom mean to you and what's the price you are willing to pay for it?
After months of bureaucracy the Brazilian government finally confirmed what the rest of the world seemed to have known right from the first image released months ago - there still are uncontacted tribes deep inside the Amazonian Jungle. Yes, it's like stating the obvious, but at least now it's official!
After three small forest clearings were detected in the Vale do Javari reservation on satellite images, flyovers were carried out in April this year, confirming the existence of an indigenous community. The first ever aerial footage of an uncontacted Amazon tribe was released in the 'Jungles' episode of the 'Human Planet' BBC series.
Officials from Brazil's National Indian Foundation (Funai) estimated the community's population at 200 people who live in four large straw-roofed structures that have been built within the last year. The tribe appears to grow bananas, corn, peanuts, and other crops. And they are believed to be just one of more than 100 peoples worldwide who live and thrive in isolation from our modern society. The Vale do Javari reservation is nearly the size of Portugal and is known to house at least 14 uncontacted tribes and 2000 people, but no proof on tape was brought to light up till early this year.
more ...