Talk:Paul Erdős

Paul Erdős is a former featured article. Please see the links under Article milestones below for its original nomination page (for older articles, check the nomination archive) and why it was removed.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
January 19, 2004	Refreshing brilliant prose	Kept
April 14, 2004	Featured article review	Demoted

Current status: Former featured article

Biography: Science and Academia

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Drugs

Surprised there is zero on his amphetamine drug abuse which was central to his being so prolific. 2A00:23C7:F486:A00:B56D:F4E1:799F:4221 (talk) 13:45, 5 May 2020 (UTC)[reply]

This is covered in three sentences in the section "Personality". --JBL (talk) 14:41, 5 May 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Why no mention of the Erdos-Bacon number?

It's a little lighthearted, perhaps fun-loving powers that be consider if frivolous, but at the point that both have their own Wikis it seems like it would be worth a sentence.96.240.128.124 (talk) 05:34, 25 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

It's mentioned at Erdős number. There are articles for Bacon number and Erdős–Bacon number. At one time there was an article Erdos-Bacon-Sabbath number, but it was deleted by consensus as being not notable. Erdos-Bacon number has been proposed for deletion several times but has survived. Sundayclose (talk) 14:58, 25 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Sexism?

An editor objected to including, under Erdos's vocabulary: 'Women were "bosses" who "captured" men as "slaves" by marrying them. Divorced men were "liberated".' I think this should stay in. First of all, it's true. Second, lots of folks of his era were sexist, and removing sexist quotes won't help that. Finally, it's a comment on marital dynamics, not math, so there is no reason to assume his is an expert opinion.

Erdos did not appear to be sexist where it counted to him, which is with women in mathematics. Dorothy Stone said:

When I came to the Institute for Advanced Study, as a shy post-graduate student, I expected to be ignored, and that everyone would assume that I had been admitted as a pretty face. My graduate education had been scanty — my advisor had been ill while I was developing my thesis. So I persisted in staying quiet, not wanting to breathe a word about any mathematics I was doing. Paul Erdos absolutely insisted on bringing me out, pulling from me to the work I had done, and discussing it with me. When I had new results, he (and Kakutani) went around to the other mathematicians there...

and among his close collaborators was Vera T. Sós.

Other opinions are of course welcome. LouScheffer (talk) 02:45, 21 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The issue is this edit. The problem is that in today's culture, such words mark the speaker as a misogynistic buffoon. Unless the source asserts that Erdős was a misogynistic buffoon, it is cherry-picking WP:SYNTH to include that quote which might have been what was an acceptable joke at that time but which now conveys a strong message. Wikipedia is not the place to record quotes to "let the reader decide". Johnuniq (talk) 03:40, 21 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I agree this comment is now considered misogynistic. However, this quote is not cherry-picking - many other sources about Erdos's vocabulary include this. See this, for example or this. And I think it is correct to "let the reader decide". Wikipedia is an encyclopedia - it is not our place to decide which side of a person to present. LouScheffer (talk) 12:44, 21 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

In an attempt to be more balanced while not being revisionist, I included a reference to his support and encouragement of women mathematicians. LouScheffer (talk) 13:47, 21 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

... in a way that left the section incoherent; I have reverted. JBL (talk) 17:05, 21 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

What is your suggested course of action? LouScheffer (talk) 22:13, 21 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I am content with the status quo, personally -- the article content seems to appropriately reflect reliable sources. JBL (talk) 20:19, 24 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Institute for Advanced Study

> He was living in America and working at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study at the time.

While the IAS is in Princeton, New Jersey, it is not part of Princeton University. 2600:1700:5438:E10:8E4E:6CF:C39C:4285 (talk) 18:00, 21 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Fields Medal

The article says, "Erdős never won the Fields Medal (the highest mathematical prize available during his lifetime), nor did he coauthor a paper with anyone who did, a pattern that extends to other prizes". This remains unexplainable to those influenced by his greatness. I think we should add a reason for this. To the best of my knowledge, Erdős did not receive it because of its age limit of being 40 years old. In 1936, when Fields Medal was established, Erdős was already over 40. We can put it in the main article, if there is agreement. Thanks. Neotaruntius (talk) 08:16, 19 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]