Paul Erdős at seventy-five

✍ Scribed by Béla Bollobás

• Book ID: 103059483
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 203 KB
• Volume: 75
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0012-365X
• DOI: 10.1016/0012-365x(89)90071-x

✦ Synopsis

We are here to celebrate Paul Erdiis on his 75th birthday. This is a delightful occasion for all of us, with Paul himself, perhaps, being the only dissenting voice. We arc happy to see him here in such good form, and to benefit from his rich experience and tremendous insight.

In fact, we are a little early with the celebration: Paul was born on the 26th March 1913. His father, Louis, was a school master of unusual calibre. His mother, Anna, was a wonderful and remarkable lady, who helped her son in every way. Some of us, including myself, were fortunate to have known her in later years, and were impressed that, even into her nineties, she travelled around the world with her son, enjoying her status as "queen mother".

As you would expect of Paul, he was a mathematical prodigy: at the age of six he could multiply six-digit numbers. He was a sensitive child: to save him from severe discipline, his parents took him out of school