The greatest mathematician that never lived - Pratik Aghor
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- čas přidán 5. 07. 2020
- Dig into the mystery of Nicolas Bourbaki- one of the most influential mathematicians of all time… who never actually existed.
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When Nicolas Bourbaki applied to the American Mathematical Society in the 1950s, he was already one of the most influential mathematicians of his time. He’d published articles in international journals and his textbooks were required reading. Yet his application was firmly rejected for one simple reason: Nicolas Bourbaki did not exist. How is that possible? Pratik Aghor digs into the mystery.
Lesson by Pratik Aghor, directed by Província Studio.
Animator's website: www.provincia.network
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so you're telling me, that a group of university students didn't like their math textbook so they made a new one? damn.
Some of them were professors when the group started. However, all of them were in their twenties. So, pretty young.
How smart do you have to be to do that?
They were prestigious mathematicians and you had to be an elite to be able to join. They wanted a continuous math, and they came up with many important definitions. They unified math. They were aggressive literally! In one of their meetings seen by a mathematician not in the group the fights were so violent that one person broke a table over a definition !
@@charonpluto1085 now I know why my professor said "definitions are life or death"
@@lynettemojica6503 good!
His existence was imaginary, his influence was real...
You could say that's quite *complex*
😂😂😂😂😂
not funny
didn't laugh
bruh
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣THAT’S AN AWESOME JOKE
😆😆😆😆😆
Mathematicians :
Hmm.. We don't hane an author...
LET AUTHOR BE x
X= Nicolas Bourbaki (so precise)
"but, y?"
@@ramduar y=life
So it's a complex equation
z=?
@@karlkapple6531 z= x+iy where x is name and y is life. A perfect complex equation
One of the nerdiest "it's a prank bro" moments
lmfao
When you dont like your textbook so you prank mathematicians by pretending to be a man from Russia.
Irodov wants to know your location!
In Soviet Russia, others don't make you read za book... you write your own...
ARandomDude You didn’t need to mention za accent
@@maxpoweroverdrive hey man he wrote more about physics than mathematics
@@dedley2664 ok it's G O N E now I edited it so that the joke looks better
Imagine looking at your calculus book and thinking, "man, i can write better than that."
probably comes down to how people views school and learning other countries have a completely different view of schooling
Honestly I think this everyday. I’m just built different.
Imagine looking at a calculator and thinking, "7+5=?"
to be fair modern calculus and math books are so undated, i mean in the logic they are on point, but the way it presents its is so old and weird. you have to be a math genius or very talented to understand and learn just from a raw math and calculus book. We for sure would use a better approch for ANYONE that want to learn math from scrach
@@v44n7 the school system should change like if someone wants to be in a specific job he/she doesn’t need a specific subject or most of the subject like art to be in a specific engineer for example industrial engineer u need geometry not how to draw an object
“I don’t get you” “Me neither” sounds like your standard math conversation 😂
These guys are their time's equivalent of "doing it for a meme".
Different generation, same antics. Nice👌.
“Nicolas Bourbaki may have been imaginary, but his legacy is very real.” So you could say he was... complex?
Nah, just projecting.
that's a nice one. a math joke under a math video.
Good one haha.
You have no argument
that was a good one lol
The smartest, elaborate, and important prank ever
Saucy Yikers is to drumm roll pls
Shut up😂😂✌️
@@anime4life930 ummm I dont get it
Saucy Yikers um I mean like why do u have to write this comment no one asked u too
Saucy Yikers I’m just kidding I’m not mean
Saucy Yikers 😜🤣
It’s so amazing to imagine just how intelligent these students were. They were clearly not just your everyday people, but geniuses in their own ways. Also, I love how this indirectly tells us, that even though we as individuals may not be comparable to legends like Einstein, Pythagoras or Newton, but in groups, we’re capable of achieving amazing achievements.
So.......like..........."Two heads are better than one"?
@@Heart2HeartBooks Exactly. Together humanity grows. Apart it is nothing.
Most maths students are very intelligent and there was a lot undiscovered or not formalized at the time. There are many more maths geniuses among us today but the problems have become more difficult.
@@davidgutierrez3312 I won't say most.. But some...
A bunch of mathematicians that didn't mind not taking credit for their work! Mad respect!
True!
Plot Twist: Nicolas was real and the group killed him to take his credit.
Whoa whoa calm down my dude! That was dark👀
cursed comment
Woah...
I am here be careful.. 😐🙏
Stop
"No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness."
--Aristotle
wasn't that Einstein when talking about paul dirac?
Heh... I have more than atouch’
"No better place to learn math than on the internet" - Pythagoras
bla bla Can’t deny such a universal quote by Pythagoras
@@ayman9224 glad you agree :)
That moment when you "prank" half the world's population into using a textbook made by a ghost...
Em ghost is probably not an accurate word since ghost would 'exist' if you know what im saying
This is nothing compared to the greatest scientist of all time, "Et Al."
lol 😂
The means to do what he does
Math is the father of science and language. Man counted before he organized his language (discovered numbers). Without his father Math, Science cannot stand. Math stands without science. In fact the biggest fan of Math is his son Science that he graciously lent the power to toddler off into the sunset
Can you guys explain da joke pls?
When a document is quoted in order to give credit you must cite the authors and put them in your References or Bibliography.
When a document has many authors you only mention some of them and then you put "et al." which means "and others".
Et al. Appears in many citations, that's the joke.
I never understood why people would give credit to a made up dude for the excellent work that they did
Guess they were all about the laughs
Because for a lot of mathematicians, it isn’t about being recognized. It’s about the betterment of mathematics. Great example of this is Grigori Perelman who proved Poincaré conjecture but turned down the award.
Mathematicians tend to be masochists.
In all sorts of ways.
A lot of these results weren’t new or ground breaking
ZFC was already formalized by the time of “Bourbaki”
ikr like Einstein didn’t think that what he discovered was special at all
Everybody gangsta till their textbooks’ author doesn’t exist.
I don't know why but I find this funny
Hmmm. Kimetsu no yaiba?
@@wickivicton9450 No it's a JoJo reference
@@wickivicton9450 Have u read the manga or just has watched the anime? 😃
btw big fan.
@@Bakasta170 both
Whoever made the idea on writing puns in Nicholas' obituary deserves an applause.
Now we need those puns.
*mad lads*
Pranks back then : let's create a character and write groundbreaking math in his name,hehe.
Pranks nowadays : so I burnt my friends home and bought him a new one.
"Hey guys I just had and idea."
"What?"
"What if we pretend to be some Russian dude when we publish this book?"
*silence*
"THAT'S GENIUS!"
The lads just having fun.
Yes
🤣
@@ma1ist me and the boys secretly writing a book as a prank
In Soviet Russia, others don't make you read za book... you write your own...
“I like Russia”
“Ok?”
“Let’s pretend to be Russian “
We like Russia.
That's the truth and at the same a communism joke. Feels good.
Actually named after an old French general, not a Russian.
@@maninthecrowd5076 get out capitalist jocker
Jorjeeta Panda who asked?
“Let’s pretend to be Russian”
“You mean Russians?”
“No no, Russian”
They should make a movie about this!!!
omg so true that would be amazing
"If every *possible* output could be mapped onto *by* at least one input" is in my mind a better phrasing for surjectivity. Great video! 😍
"All but one of us are gonna be referenced as 'et.al' anyway"
-the authors, probably
Ultimate math/science troll: change your name to "et al". that way we can get "et al et.al"
etality
I was just asking myself that! How do you reference the work of an imaginary person? 💭
@@shiningdahlia Well you have to keep in mind that for people who lived at the time, Bourbaki was very much a "real" person. So yeah, including him in references is not really that much of an issue
GildedBear “et-al et al” I do think that’s how some of the early algebra treatises were attributed.
Descartes : I THINK, THEREFORE I AM.
Bourbaki : THEY THINK, THEREFORE I AM.
😇😇😇
Billie Ellish: Therefore I am
That's actually... brilliant.
Elite joke
You are really a mathematician
I rebel therefore we are
he was so famous, he even got a 21 pilots song made after him
@Sousea morph
The 21 pilots song was so great 20th century mathematicians had a pseudonym inspired by it
i was wondering how far i’d have to go for this comment
Still dont get why TOP mentioned his name
@@SaiTheForgotten yh the i dont get the why the leader of the niners was named after him
A glance into the Wikipedia article tells that this group still lives and their latest publication was in 2016
Maybe the greatest mathematician was the friend we made along the way.
bourbaki, I swear to God I will leave you in russia.
I thought Nicholas Bourbaki was a guy from twenty one pilots' album, trench
You can find that name in their song morph
What if... it was all... a dream...?
Bifrost Bigfoot.. This was hilarious. Still laughing.
*imaginary friend*
"Hey, lets publish our work under a pseudonym. Which one do you think people will take seriously?"
"Russian. People only trust wisdom and knowledge when they come from far away. Can't ever grow that stuff locally it seems."
Fyaza Heylets lets publis v
e
C
d
That and lots of mathematicians came from the Soviet Union. The coolest kids at most schools at that time in the Soviet Union were kids who were good at math and physics. In the western world, they are considered weird and kind of shameful to be like that.
When a fictional guy's life has more meaning than mine 😭
F
It's a long list. For example, Batman.
They pretty much went back to basics, making a modern work of Euclid. His own “Elements” was quite similar.
Damn I just can’t imagine being smart enough to rewrite your school’s whole dang textbook
Cuz knowledge isn't spoon-fed before. They need to discover thing cause ya know they can't google 😅
@@anemari5809 how can you not make sense on so many different levels, that's kind of brilliant.
@@memoboy4141 are you unable to read English? That is quite amazing.
@@hybmnzz2658 you should meet my 1 yr old niece
@@hybmnzz2658
That was engrish, sir.
"Nicolas Bourbaki may have been IMAGINARY, but his legacy is very REAL."
I see what you did there, TED-Ed.
YEdwardP Im(Bourbaki)=life
Re(Bourbaki)=legacy
I don’t get it. That reference was too complex for me
@@blackmamba1261 it's quite irrational
@@srash8854 I dunno, seems pretty natural to me
@@archeopterixneuroza4715 the fact that y'all are _add_ ing puns is _whole_ some
Those Mathematicians are Madlads at a whole new level
"Who should be the author?"
"Nicolas something...."
"Great Idea!!!"
I can just imagine all the Geniuses who died in the world wars and how the world might be totally different if at least a few mozarts and einsteins lived. May they rest in peace.
and it is also sad that most of the technologies advancing are a result of military research.
Dont really know man. While it did alot of damage, it also allow the society to grow. Without world war I and II. We may not have the Unite Nation either. Small country might still be used by big nation and big nation might still have minor conflict over and over. And tbh, the world war is such a big war that everyone just so done with it and want peace. That period of peace allow technology and science to grow exponentially. The tech we have today is sth people from 100years ago could never imagine of. While these great mind die, their legacy live on. These group of mathematicians is collecting their legacy and set a universal standard. That mean, their work didn't go to waste. They didnt live on to do more math discovery, but our today mathematician are just as capable.
Wihout it, we probably wouldnt have a use to apply all that theory practically.
@@prumchhangsreng979 woah dude, that one is beautiful
@@dinghanxue704 Necessity drives actions
I just looked all of their names up and was incredibly saddened when I found all had died except one, Jean-Pierre Serre. R.I.P. mathematical legends.
it's just nature's law.
Bourbaki still exist. Jean-Pierre was fired as he is more than 50 years old.
He was and still is the youngest winner of the Fields Medal, at the age of 27.
Yeah, the thing with Bourbaki is that all the members are below a certain age and are all anonymous until one member is at least old enough, and so, out of the group. Then Idk what the specifics are, but iirc it's the member's decision to tell if they were a member or not, but usually former members we know of are old when they're still alive.
Nicolas bourbaki: hi-
Tyler joseph: hippity hoppity you're now in dema
"He'll always try to stop me, that Nicholas Bourbaki
He's got no friends close but those who know him most know
He goes by Nico, he told me I'm a copy"
~Morph - Twenty One Pilots
Me:*unable to understand the math text book*
after watching this video,my mind:"I will write my own math text book"
I changed my comment so the replies don't make any sense
*But I feel bad for everyone who lost their lives on world war 1*
And the horses
bro its a relief otherwise the syllabus would have been more thicker
The scientists, the artists and all others. War is just a waste of good people.
@@Aphelia. ikr
This takes twenty one pilot song to a whole new level
Which song is that?
@@nebulouscalamity6338 Nico and the Niners
@@evagraciela225 Thanks for the surprising prompt reply! I guess Nico and the Niners are all the same here. They're the ones controlling all of math, eh?
I found This on Wikipedia-
The group's namesake derives from the 19th century French general Charles-Denis Bourbaki,[3] who had a career of successful military campaigns before suffering a dramatic loss in the Franco-Prussian War. The name was therefore familiar to early 20th century French students. Weil remembered an ENS student prank in which an upperclassman posed as a professor and presented a "theorem of Bourbaki"; the name was later adopted.
(Andre wiel was one of it's founders)
TED-ED: Nicolas Bourbaki never existed
Me: "surprised Pikachu face"
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⣠⣤⣶⣶ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⢰⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⣀⣀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⡏⠉⠛⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⣿ ⣿⠀⠀⠀⠈⠛⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⠛⠉⠁⠀⣿ ⣿⣧⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⠿⠿⠿⠻⠿⠿⠟⠿⠛⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣸⣿ ⣿⣿⣷⣄⠀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣴⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⠏⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠠⣴⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⡟⠀⠀⢰⣹⡆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣭⣷⠀⠀⠀⠸⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⠃⠀⠀⠈⠉⠀⠀⠤⠄⠀⠀⠀⠉⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⢿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⢾⣿⣷⠀⠀⠀⠀⡠⠤⢄⠀⠀⠀⠠⣿⣿⣷⠀⢸⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⡀⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢄⠀⢀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠉⠁⠀⠀⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣧⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢹⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⠃⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿
Nice!
Honestly I kinda get it, if I was a part of the team, I'd rather choose a cool group name to "represent" everyone than being reduced to et al. lol
I didn't think about that, everytime I put et al. for the papers I had written, I always feel bad for all the other names that also deserved recognition.
I heard Nikolas bourbaki and immediately my brain went to twenty one pilots
He'll always try to stop me, that Nicolas Bourbaki
Me too 😭😭
YAAAS I LOVE TRENCH
This is a great content that I've shared in my social media.
Keep it for further!
These stories would make maths so interesting imo.
why they don't tell this at school.🤷♂️
Thanks Ted ed
it doesnt help u understand the mathematics of it all
@@ChrisM-qo1jc It would make you want to understand it more though, and wanting to understand makes understanding a lot easier
@@ariaasterial9295 10/10 Make it a quote now.
@@ariaasterial9295 yup
Ikr. just imagine how many people would be interested in math just because of the prank story.
He’ll always try to stop me, that Nicholas Bourbaki
TOP fans liked that 😎
He's got no friends close but those who know him most know , he goes by nico he told me I am copy and when I heard he'd mocked me THAT ALMOST STOPPED ME
We'll we're surrounded and we're hounded
theres no above or a secret door
what are we here for?
This is one of the most interesting stories i have heard
and I thought Nicolas Bourbaki was just a random name in the TwentyOne Pilots' "Morph"
" the highest form of pure thought is in mathematics"
- Plato
Is it tho? Explain for example!
LudicrousKid those were Plato’s words, not his.
Smoke weed everyday
-Elon Musk
@@manjityadav6845 I'm crying
@@Gadget-Walkmen there is nothing more pure than math. I cant prove that now but its true. Btw the thing we are learning in schools is not math. Believe me.
I really like the fact that the guy working on commutative groups and the guy working on Z-modules couldn’t understand each other despite these two objects being the same. If that was an intentional touch, Kudos!
So much of this went over my head, but I do like the humour of the group!
Thanks for telling such an informative video😀
Why dont they tell us this in school? we just assume things have always been organized but really people worked super hard to being math together
Do you seriously think math was created, organized and developed without effort? Hundreds of generations were needed to even conceptualize the field of mathematics... School assumes you assume that everything took lots of work to be done.
Because these were scholars studying advanced mathematics, why would school waste any time telling you their story when they need to teach kids basic maths lmao
"Genius is the recovery of childhood at will."
--Arthur Rimbaud
Be gone, bot
Thanks for the video.
Oh, wow. That's an inspiring story. The world owes a lot to the Bourbaki group.
Man: No, Nicolas Bourbaki doesn’t exist.
French Mathematicians: Ight bet.
Saw the title and instantly knew who this was about.
...He'll always try to stop me, that Nicholas Bourbaki...
He's got no friends close but those who know him most know he goes by Nico
@@ananyask503 he told me i'm a copy when i'd hear him mock me that almost stopped me
This is one of my favorite Teds.
0:48
Me & my friend in Math.
"..the lack of a shared mathematical language." 😂
😂😂😂😂
Moral of the story: If you don't like a book, write one on your own(and yes,pretend to be a Russian guy-that's important)
I really appreciate this.
It's nice when people who are capable, follow through.
I can't believe what I'm studying now came from a prank lmao
imaginary numbers exist in mathematics so as imaginary mathematicians in our society
It’s seems very apropiate when you put it that way 🤔
Apt
Great job on filling the blanks with actual commonly used properties, makes it all the more believable
4:50 AMOGUS
A-A-A-A-A-AMONGUS
Nico is sus
Always on point with the gorgeous animation
So this is the Nicolas Bourbaki that Tyler Joseph of twenty øne piløts is talking about in the song Nico and the Niners.🤔
Yes that's the point, Nicos studies are a good metaphor for the story of trench(Plus he literally invented TOPology)
One of the greatest stories ever told
Interesting and worthwhile video.
The story of man who never was in a world who never knew him creating a legacy many couldn't reach. What a great legend
flying from a fire, from nico and the niners
Can you explain, please?
@@Pepel_sna 'east is up I'm fearless when I hear this on the low' are you telling me you never heard this famous phrase ?
always trying to stop me that nicholas bourbaki
@@jolie1412 omg! Now I finnaly understood the line.....thanks😀
EAST IS UP! I'm fearless when I hear this on the low, EAST IS UP! I'm careless when I wear my rebel clothes, EAST IS UP! when bishops come together they will know that: Dema don't control us!
Amazing combination presenting the best of humans:
Purpose, altruism, science and humor ❤️
I love how the phrase at the start was written by no other than Nicolas Bourbaki
He'll always try to stop me, that Nicholas Bourbaki
He's got no friends close but those who know him most know
He goes by Nico, he told me I'm a copy
When I'd hear him mock me that's almost stopped me
Well we're surrounded and we're hounded
There's no above or a secret door
What are we here for?
If not to run straight through all our tormentors?
But until that time I'll try and sing this
If I keep moving, they won't know
I’ll morph to someone else
As soon as I saw that title I knew “who” this was gonna be about.
Great work as always!
I am a Undergraduate student and this video gave me goosebumps 🔥
I love this channel always new facts about physics, math and science. Thanks for uploading these videos, 😊😊😊❤❤❤
He'll always try to stop me, that Nicholas Bourbaki
He's got no friends close but those who know him most know
He goes by Nico, he told me I'm a copy
When I'd hear him mock me that's almost stopped me
Is this from a movie?
@@AdeyemiAlabi a song. Morph by Twenty One Pilots.
||-//
Your pfp has it all
We're surrounded. And we're hounded.
Great animation as always!
The part were you guys explained functions gave me war flashbacks.
What a smooth video to talk about it ! Love it !
I would also add this : Nicolas Bourbaki still exists today. In fact, the group is welcoming new mathematicians who shall leave it when they are 50, because after this age we become idiots. The identities of current members are mostly kept secret...
I feel so bad for those mathematicians who lost their lives in world war 1, war is a terrible thing😢😞
2020 says bang bang pew pew
😒🤫
@@thalassaer4137 more like touch touch dead dead
They did it for the lolz. What madmen, I love them.
Incredible!
Fascinating stuff. Our high school would be impossible if not for them
the face when someone that never existed achieved way more than you ever will
fact* Also, you're speaking for yourself here. No one else
I can think about nothing but Twenty-one Pilots just after hearing the name Nicolas Bourbaki.
Why?
@@PedroHenrique-vt1nz bump
@@PedroHenrique-vt1nz because they reference Nico as a fictional representation of negativity in their recent album named "Trench"
YEAH
He's got no friends close but those who know him most know: he goes by nico
dude this is amazing
우리가 지금 배우고 있는 수학이 정립된 지 불과 몇십 년 밖에 지나지 않았다는 사실이 좀 놀랍네요. 확실히 수학 용어를 통일시킨 작업은 수학자들이 서로의 분야를 이해하고 융합하는 데 도움을 많이 주었을 것 같습니다. 유익한 영상 감사합니다!
Great videos from Ted-ED during the pandemic. Thank you! ❤️
Oh he is alive he's just in dema ||-//
@LEE WEI QIN Moe Same haha
Yess ||-//
"He's got no friends close but those who know him most know he goes by Nico"
He's telling tyler he's a copy
I respect your distance and understand you decisions .
Details creates, changes and distorts composition of functions across the system
This stories makes mathematics, really interesting and attractive. I love them!