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This reminds me of the anecdote about the math student who showed up late to a lecture and saw three equations on the board; he assumed they were homework, so he copied them down and worked on them. When he came to the next class, he said, "The homework was really hard; I could only solve one of the equations," to which his professor replied, "Those weren't homework--those were three of the most renowned unsolved equations in the field of mathematics." I forget where I read this, but I have always chosen to believe that it is true, because, damn... that's awesome.


It was only a single problem in statistics. The professor's name eludes me. He's still alive and teaching.


2 problems. George Dantzig got them both.

http://www.snopes.com/college/homework/unsolvable.asp




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