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Nikolai Lobachevsky

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Mathematician

The Resume

    (December 1, 1792-February 12, 1856)
    Born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russian Federation
    Professor and administrator at Kazan University
    Developed non-Euclidean geometry, specifically hyperbolic geometry
    Wrote 'The New Foundations of Geometry' (1838)

Why he might be annoying:

    Among non-mathematicians, he is best-remembered as the subject of a Tom Lehrer song in which he declares the secret of success in mathematics to be, 'Plagiarize!... Only be sure to always call it research.'
    Some mathematicians accused him of ripping off the idea for non-Euclidean geometry from Carl Gauss.
    His paper outlining non-Euclidean geometry was rejected by the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

Why he might not be annoying:

    The best evidence indicates that he and Gauss developed non-Euclidean geometry independently. (And he, unlike Gauss, went public with the idea.)
    Lehrer admitted he had no reason to believe Lobachevsky plagiarized and chose the name 'solely for prosodic reasons.'
    Non-Euclidean geometry proved extremely useful in modern physics, such as general relativity.
    He had a 'no job too small' attitude at Kazan, resulting in one visitor coming away impressed by the erudition of the University's janitor (who was actually Lobachevsky pitching in).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying