Comments on: Mathematician Heads of State? http://threesixty360.wordpress.com/2007/11/04/mathematician-heads-of-state/ 12 tables, 24 chairs, and plenty of chalk Thu, 30 May 2013 02:26:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: TwoPi http://threesixty360.wordpress.com/2007/11/04/mathematician-heads-of-state/#comment-9 Mon, 05 Nov 2007 15:23:03 +0000 http://threesixty360.wordpress.com/2007/11/04/mathematician-heads-of-state/#comment-9 I just remembered one: Gerbert d’Aurillac (940-1003), who upon election took the name Pope Sylvester II. (See http://www.voskrese.info/spl/Xsylvester2.html for scant details and some valuable references, including to a College Math Journal article from 2005.)

]]> By: 360 http://threesixty360.wordpress.com/2007/11/04/mathematician-heads-of-state/#comment-8 Mon, 05 Nov 2007 04:06:52 +0000 http://threesixty360.wordpress.com/2007/11/04/mathematician-heads-of-state/#comment-8 I think #2 is really two questions in one:

2a. Is there a (possibly famous) head of state who is a mathematician? (I wonder if it means anything that the Rose-Hulman site sometimes says “math major”, sometimes “studied math”, and sometimes gives a specific degree. What qualifies someone as a mathematician then?)

2b. Is there a famous mathematician who rose to a high political level, possibly head of state?

My guess: Prob(answer to 2b = YES) << 1.

]]> By: heather360 http://threesixty360.wordpress.com/2007/11/04/mathematician-heads-of-state/#comment-6 Mon, 05 Nov 2007 01:02:17 +0000 http://threesixty360.wordpress.com/2007/11/04/mathematician-heads-of-state/#comment-6 The site Famous Mathematics Majors, put together by the Rose-Hulman Math Club, lists some former heads of state. My favorites in their list are Art Garfunkel with an MA in math and Heloise (of Hints from Heloise fame) with a minor in math. Wow — you really can do ANYTHING with math!

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