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Oscar Zariski was one of the founders of modern algebraic geometry

boogiemath.org

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Re: Oscar Zariski was one of the founders of modern algebraic geometry

#41

Post by waynecochran »

datameta wrote: post #25
waynecochran wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One metric would be body count. 20th century Marxists are somewhere between 60 and 148 million dead. Hard to top that.

One thing that puzzles me is those people who shudder at comparing Stalin's murderous spree with what Hitler's effects were. Is it the cognitive dissonance of not wanting to believe that we not only allied with a genocidal dictatorship but heavily supplied them with industrial output during the war? My family lived in the USSR and I can say for a fact - knowing it was the NKVD rather than Gestapo that might knock on…

Should have followed Patton's desire to make sure the Russians had no part in Europe outside of Russia. I guess cold pragmatism aligned us with Stalin to defeat Germany.

Re: Oscar Zariski was one of the founders of modern algebraic geometry

#42

Post by surfingdino »

lo_zamoyski wrote: post #8

Historical footnote: 'What also surprised me in the biography was the striking difference between Jews in Italy and in Poland. [...] Leopold Infeld’s autobiography [...] describes the Jewish ghettos in Poland as being almost completely isolated from the general population. [...] She was utterly surprised when she first saw the Jewish quarter in Warsaw, remarking: “The Jews in side curls and kaftans made me feel that…

She was likely seeing Hasidic Jews, who are quite distinct in the way they live and dress https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasidic_Judaism

Re: Oscar Zariski was one of the founders of modern algebraic geometry

#43

Post by tocs3 »

simpaticoder wrote: post #28
delichon wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Those who spend their time flying through imaginary worlds do well to "remember where the off switch is" If this world is a simulation, and someone among us is the player-character, forgetting that there is an off switch is a feature for them that increases immersion by making any failure to suspend disbelief (which I as a probable NPC suffer from regulary) a moot issue. As long as we think that this is reality, it…

"If this world is a simulation" then anything can follow, which makes it an uninteresting hypothetical.

You might be right but...

If this world is a simulation knowing the nature might let us work with it better. Hacking the universe (maybe or maybe not if a simulation). It would in some ways just become an extension of physics (in effect).

This gives me an opportunity to bring up a favorite story of mine.

Wang's Carpets by Greg Egan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang%27s_Carpets

Re: Oscar Zariski was one of the founders of modern algebraic geometry

#44

Post by surfingdino »

datameta wrote: post #25
waynecochran wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One metric would be body count. 20th century Marxists are somewhere between 60 and 148 million dead. Hard to top that.

One thing that puzzles me is those people who shudder at comparing Stalin's murderous spree with what Hitler's effects were. Is it the cognitive dissonance of not wanting to believe that we not only allied with a genocidal dictatorship but heavily supplied them with industrial output during the war? My family lived in the USSR and I can say for a fact - knowing it was the NKVD rather than Gestapo that might knock on…

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The West used Stalin to break Hitler's neck. It was a pact with the devil against another devil.

Re: Oscar Zariski was one of the founders of modern algebraic geometry

#45

Post by [deleted] »

cjbgkagh wrote: post #31
datameta wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing that puzzles me is those people who shudder at comparing Stalin's murderous spree with what Hitler's effects were. Is it the cognitive dissonance of not wanting to believe that we not only allied with a genocidal dictatorship but heavily supplied them with industrial output during the war? My family lived in the USSR and I can say for a fact - knowing it was the NKVD rather than Gestapo that might knock on…

Most people don’t know that Lenin was sent to Russia from his Swiss exile by the Germans in a sealed diplomatic train with the express intent to induce the October revolution and end the hostilities on that front. It was done to the Russians by cynical Germans who still ended up losing WWI. Churchill deliberately courted the Russians and prevented attacks on them early on in WWII to make it easier for them to switch…

[deleted]

Re: Oscar Zariski was one of the founders of modern algebraic geometry

#46

Post by galaxyLogic »

For whomever might be interested in anectodes about mathematicians' personal lives:

My girlfriend's family was related to https://planetmath.org/kallevaisala and she told me this story which was part of the family lore. The family and friends were having some kind of get-together celebration maybe a wedding or so and prof. Vaisala's wife had bought him a brand new suit to look good for the occasion.

During the party they were playing croquet in the garden and prof. Vaisala got really into the game, but had the realization that suit-pants may not be the best for playing croquet. He could have stuffed the end of his pant-legs into his socks but that didn't really work, maybe socks were too tight and pants too big. So, he found a pair of scissors somewhere, and cut his pant-legs short. His wife started crying. She didn't really appreciate the genius of mathematicians.

Re: Oscar Zariski was one of the founders of modern algebraic geometry

#47

Post by surfingdino »

cjbgkagh wrote: post #31
datameta wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing that puzzles me is those people who shudder at comparing Stalin's murderous spree with what Hitler's effects were. Is it the cognitive dissonance of not wanting to believe that we not only allied with a genocidal dictatorship but heavily supplied them with industrial output during the war? My family lived in the USSR and I can say for a fact - knowing it was the NKVD rather than Gestapo that might knock on…

Most people don’t know that Lenin was sent to Russia from his Swiss exile by the Germans in a sealed diplomatic train with the express intent to induce the October revolution and end the hostilities on that front. It was done to the Russians by cynical Germans who still ended up losing WWI. Churchill deliberately courted the Russians and prevented attacks on them early on in WWII to make it easier for them to switch…

China no longer sees Russia as a partner, but a vassal state. They rejected Putin's proposal for the Siberian pipeline and are slowing down deliveries of various components needed to manufacture weapons. Chinese banks are limiting their dealing with Russian banks and companies to avoid sanctions. Like it or hate it, US Dollar is the world's reserve currency and getting cut off from the global banking network is not worth all the gold that Putin can offer. China doesn't want Russia to attack other countries, because like a wise drug dealer, it does not want to loose its customers. Russia is killing them and that messes with China's business. To be honest if China could capture Putin and give him to the West in a box with a red ribbon it would. They saw how weak he is and have no respect for him.

On top of that, China has its own problems--demographic and economic. Russia cannot help China solve them so China is happy to see Russia bleed and slowly descend into the inevitable chaos once the Russian economy collapses. Xi will be happy to carve out a part of Russia for himself once an opportunity presents itself. Although how much more of a really backwards population and barren land he needs is a open question.

Re: Oscar Zariski was one of the founders of modern algebraic geometry

#48

Post by [deleted] »

blendergeek wrote: post #32
thih9 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you cite the guideline? I couldn't find it; I thought the idea is to use the original title where possible. > Otherwise please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize.

Oscar Zariski - forgot about his own wedding is the original title on the article. The title I objected to was "A man who forgot about his own wedding". This title was actually edited to make it more clickbaity before it was later edited to be less clickbaity.

[deleted]

Re: Oscar Zariski was one of the founders of modern algebraic geometry

#49

Post by AnimalMuppet »

surfingdino wrote: post #44
datameta wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing that puzzles me is those people who shudder at comparing Stalin's murderous spree with what Hitler's effects were. Is it the cognitive dissonance of not wanting to believe that we not only allied with a genocidal dictatorship but heavily supplied them with industrial output during the war? My family lived in the USSR and I can say for a fact - knowing it was the NKVD rather than Gestapo that might knock on…

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The West used Stalin to break Hitler's neck. It was a pact with the devil against another devil.

"The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy. No more. No less." (Schlock Mercenary Maxim #29)

It was mutual, by the way. Stalin (or one of his generals?) said "even with the devil you may walk to the end of the bridge". That is, to them the west was the devil, and they were using the west just like the west was using them.

Re: Oscar Zariski was one of the founders of modern algebraic geometry

#50

Post by QuesnayJr »

GnarfGnarf wrote: post #16
ben_w wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now I'm curious: most of us are familiar with what the USSR did wrong, were they better or worse than the Tsars before them?

Historians describe that Russian peasants pre-1917 were basically living in Medieval conditions. Russia didn't adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1918! As flawed as Communism is, it did lurch Russians into the 20th century. The Tsar and the aristocracy failed at their job. They deserved their fate, to be fired. Maybe Communism was the only way to drag Russian society, kicking and screaming, into the modern era that o…

Russia was of course incredibly backwards by European standards, but in the run-up to WW1 it was industrializing rapidly. Part of German strategic calculation was that if they waited too much longer after 1914 to fight a war with a modernizing Russia that they would lose.

Plus, it wasn't even the Communists who deposed the Czar. He was already gone after the February Revolution, 7 months before. The main contribution of the Communists to the cause was to spend the next two decades committing mass murder and achieving mass starvation.

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