Because the study of infinity often leads to some logical but absurd results (called "paradox"), many great mathematicians are afraid of falling into it and adopt an evasive attitude. During the period of 1874- 1876, Cantor, a young German mathematician less than 30 years old, declared war on the mysterious infinity. With hard sweat, he successfully proved that points on a straight line can correspond to points on a plane one by one, and can also correspond to points in space one by one. In this way, it seems that there are as many points on the 1 cm long line segment as there are points in the Pacific Ocean and the whole earth. In the following years, Cantor published a series of articles about this kind of "infinite set" and drew many amazing conclusions through strict proof. Cantor's creative work has formed a sharp conflict with the traditional mathematical concept, which has been opposed, attacked and even abused by some people. Some people say that Cantor's set theory is a kind of "disease", Cantor's concept is "fog in fog", and even Cantor is a "madman". Great mental pressure from the authority of mathematics finally destroyed Cantor, making him exhausted, suffering from schizophrenia and being sent to a mental hospital.

True gold is not afraid of fire, and Cantor's thought finally shines. At the first international congress of mathematicians held in 1897, his achievements were recognized, and Russell, a great philosopher and mathematician, praised Cantor's work as "probably the greatest work that can be boasted in this era." But at this time, Cantor was still in a trance, unable to get comfort and joy from people's reverence. 1918 65438+1October 6th, Cantor died in a mental hospital.

Eight-year-old Gauss discovered mathematical theorems.

The famous German scientist Gauss (1777 ~ 1855) was born in a poor family. Gauss learned to calculate by himself before he could speak. When he was three years old, he watched his father calculate his salary one night and corrected his father's calculation mistakes.

When he grew up, he became the most outstanding astronomer and mathematician of our time. He made some contributions to physics electromagnetism, and now a unit of electromagnetism is named after him. Mathematicians call him "the prince of mathematics".

He entered a rural primary school at the age of eight. The teacher who teaches mathematics is from the city. He feels that teaching a few little lynx in remote places is really overqualified. Moreover, he has some prejudices: children from poor families are born fools, and there is no need to teach these stupid children to study hard. If there is an opportunity, they should be punished to add some fun to this boring life.

This day is a depressing day for the math teacher. The students cringed when they saw the teacher's depressed face, knowing that the teacher was going to arrest these students again today and punish them.

"You calculate for me today, from 1 plus 2 plus 3 to 100. Whoever can't figure it out will be punished for not going home for lunch. " The teacher said this, picked up a novel, sat in a chair and read it without saying a word.

The children in the classroom picked up the slate and began to calculate: "1 plus 2 equals 3, 3 plus 3 equals 6, 6 plus 4 equals10 …" Some children added a number to the slate and then erased the result. After adding it, the number is getting bigger and bigger, which is difficult to calculate. Some children's little faces turned red, and some children's palms and foreheads oozed sweat.

Less than half an hour later, little Gauss picked up the slate and stepped forward. "Teacher, is this the answer?"

Without looking up, the teacher waved his thick hand and said, "Go, go back!"! Wrong. " He thought it impossible to have an answer so soon.

But Gauss stood still and put the slate in front of the teacher: "Teacher! I think this answer is correct. "

The math teacher wanted to shout, but when he saw the number written on the slate: 5050, he was surprised because he calculated it himself and got the number of 5050. How did this 8-year-old child get this value so quickly?

Gauss explained a method he discovered, which was used by the ancient Greeks and China people to calculate the sequence1+2+3+…+n. Gauss's discovery made the teacher feel ashamed, and felt that his previous view of being arrogant and belittling poor children was wrong. He also taught seriously in the future, and often bought some math books from the city for his own study and lent them to Gauss. With his encouragement, Gauss later did some important research in mathematics.