April 23, 2004

Mathematics With a Moral

By ROBERT OSSERMAN

The past decade has been an exciting one in the world of mathematics and a fabulous one (in the literal sense) for mathematicians, who saw themselves transformed from the frogs of fairy tales -- regarded with a who-would-want-to-kiss-that aversion, when they were noticed at all -- into fascinating royalty, portrayed on stage and screen by such glamorous stars as Mary-Louise Parker, Matt Damon, and Russell Crowe. True, the dramatized mathematicians were generally troubled, but they

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