In 1951 David A. Huffman and his classmates in an electrical engineering graduate course on
information theory were given the choice of a term paper or a final exam. For the term paper,
Huffman’s professor, Robert M. Fano, had assigned what at first appeared to be a simple problem.
Students were asked to find the most efficient method of representing numbers, letters or other
symbols using a binary code. Besides being a nimble intellectual exercise, finding such a code would
enable information to be compressed for transmission over a computer network or for storage in a
computer’s memory.
Huffman worked on the problem for months, developing a number of approaches, but none that
he could prove to be the most efficient. Finally, he despaired of ever reaching a solution and decided
to start studying for the final. Just as he was throwing his notes in the garbage, the solution came
to him. “It was the most singular moment of my life,” Huffman says. “There was the absolute
lightning of sudden realization.
[...]
Huffman says he might never have tried his hand at the problem - much less solved it at the age
of 25 - if he had known that Fano, his professor, and Claude E. Shannon, the creator of information
theory, had struggled with it.
Re:Student mistook examples of unsolved math problems for ho...
by pmoriarty on Sunday August 20, 2017 @09:13PM
(#15061236)
George Pólya on von Neumann:
"Johnny was the only student I was ever afraid of. If in the course of a lecture I stated an unsolved problem, the chances were he'd come to me at the end of the lecture with the complete solution scribbled on a slip of paper."
Re:Student mistook examples of unsolved math problems for ho...
by thephyber on Monday August 21, 2017 @04:13AM
(#15062803)
I think having someone pick a problem for you (thereby removing the option of choice) also focuses the mind.
It likely prevents you from doing a breadth-first search across the many problems, whereas a correct solution probably requires a depth-first approach.
Re:Student mistook examples of unsolved math problems for ho...
by Mz on Monday August 21, 2017 @02:11PM
(#15066415)
A year later, when I began to worry about a thesis topic, Neyman just shrugged and told me to wrap the two problems in a binder and he would accept them as my thesis.
Re:Student mistook examples of unsolved math problems for ho...
by tptacek on Sunday August 20, 2017 @10:10PM
(#15061441)
Please don't inject partisan politics into threads that have nothing whatsoever to do with politics. That's vandalism, not discussion.
Everyone else: please, please don't feed this stuff by debating. This should be a thread about mathematics, not about the politics of Internet urban myth sites.
Re:Student mistook examples of unsolved math problems for ho...
by aaron695 on Sunday August 20, 2017 @10:55PM
(#15061604)
> Their impartiality has been questioned recently.
Unless you are implying this is relevant to this particular story on Mathematics then as said before it's vandalism. How does their impartiality impact this particular story and the thousands of other stories involving spiders bursting out of nests in peoples hair.
It's same as when people bring up Trump whenever there's a technical story on energy, vandalism.
Re:Student mistook examples of unsolved math problems for ho...
by meowface on Sunday August 20, 2017 @10:53PM
(#15061592)
Can you link to some criticisms or refutations of Snopes' content? (Specifically criticism of the content and not the authors, which is certainly not irrelevant but doesn't necessarily reflect the accuracy of the content.)
https://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/images/upload_librar...
In 1951 David A. Huffman and his classmates in an electrical engineering graduate course on information theory were given the choice of a term paper or a final exam. For the term paper, Huffman’s professor, Robert M. Fano, had assigned what at first appeared to be a simple problem. Students were asked to find the most efficient method of representing numbers, letters or other symbols using a binary code. Besides being a nimble intellectual exercise, finding such a code would enable information to be compressed for transmission over a computer network or for storage in a computer’s memory.
Huffman worked on the problem for months, developing a number of approaches, but none that he could prove to be the most efficient. Finally, he despaired of ever reaching a solution and decided to start studying for the final. Just as he was throwing his notes in the garbage, the solution came to him. “It was the most singular moment of my life,” Huffman says. “There was the absolute lightning of sudden realization.
[...]
Huffman says he might never have tried his hand at the problem - much less solved it at the age of 25 - if he had known that Fano, his professor, and Claude E. Shannon, the creator of information theory, had struggled with it.
"Johnny was the only student I was ever afraid of. If in the course of a lecture I stated an unsolved problem, the chances were he'd come to me at the end of the lecture with the complete solution scribbled on a slip of paper."
https://mathoverflow.net/questions/54513/the-story-about-mil...
It likely prevents you from doing a breadth-first search across the many problems, whereas a correct solution probably requires a depth-first approach.
I like the professor.
https://projecteuclid.org/euclid.aoms/1177731912
https://projecteuclid.org/euclid.aoms/1177729695
That building is in Orange County, not Los Angeles.
Everyone else: please, please don't feed this stuff by debating. This should be a thread about mathematics, not about the politics of Internet urban myth sites.
Unless you are implying this is relevant to this particular story on Mathematics then as said before it's vandalism. How does their impartiality impact this particular story and the thousands of other stories involving spiders bursting out of nests in peoples hair.
It's same as when people bring up Trump whenever there's a technical story on energy, vandalism.
If you cannot show any factual inaccuracies, you are also free to keep your mouth shut.
If you cannot manage that, other folks are free to tell you to shut your mouth.
Is reality breaking down?