### May 30, 2010

This blog moved to blog.chernikov.me

## Legendary Legendre

### November 16, 2009

 $\Longrightarrow$

(*) Changing Faces: The Mistaken Portrait of Legendre by Peter Duren

## RAM et ultrafiltre

### November 3, 2009

Author: Jean-Louis Krivine

Abstract: We show how to transform into programs the proofs in classical Analysis which use the existence of an ultrafilter on the integers. The method mixes the classical realizability introduced by the author, with the “forcing” of P. Cohen. The programs we obtain, use read and write instructions in random access memory.

## thank goodness

### October 12, 2009

Shortly before the World War he [Zermelo] spent a night in the Bavarian alps. He filled the column “Nationality” in the hotel’s registration form with the words: “Not Swiss, thank goodness.”  Misfortune would have it that shortly after that the head of the Education Department of the Canton Zürich stayed at the same hotel and saw the entry. It was clear that Zermelo could not stay much longer at the University of Zürich.

(*) from Abraham Fraenkel’s “Lebenskrise”

## Topolozhstvo

### September 10, 2009

in 1946, on the floor of the Academy of Sciences, Kolmogorov said something about his recent work on topology to Luzin, and the latter replied, “Eto ne topologiia, eto topolozhstvo” (“This is not topology, this is topolozhstvo“). Kolmogorov reddened and struck Luzin in the face. The word “topolozhstvo” is an invented term with a very clear meaning. In Russian the word skotolozhstvo means “bestiality,” while muzhelozhstvo means “sodomy.” Therefore, “topolozhstvo” was a word contrived by Luzin that might be translated as “topological pederasty.”

(*)

From “Naming Infinity” by Loren Graham and Jean-Michel Kantor