Plagiarize!

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BB+
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Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2010 4:26 am

Plagiarize!

Post by BB+ » Fri Mar 18, 2011 7:03 am

It surprises some people to learn that there was a mathematician a few decades back who did comedy/music (some of it quite twisted). Tom Lehrer also later wrote for children's programs. Here is one of the more famous of his songs: http://www.google.com/#q=tom+lehrer+plagiarize+youtube
Who made me the genius I am today,
The mathematician that others all quote,
Who's the professor that made me that way?
The greatest that ever got chalk on his coat.

One man deserves the credit,
One man deserves the blame,
And Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky is his name.
Hi!
Nicolai Ivanovich Lobach-

I am never forget the day I first meet the great Lobachevsky.
In one word he told me secret of success in mathematics:
Plagiarize!

Plagiarize,
Let no one else's work evade your eyes,
Remember why the good Lord made your eyes,
So don't shade your eyes,
But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize -
Only be sure always to call it please 'research'.

And ever since I meet this man
My life is not the same,
And Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky is his name.
Hi!
Nicolai Ivanovich Lobach-

I am never forget the day I am given first original paper to write. It was on analytic and algebraic topology of locally Euclidean parameterization of infinitely differentiable Riemannian manifold.
Bozhe moi!
This I know from nothing.
What-i'm going-to do.
But I think of great Lobachevsky and get idea - ahah!

I have a friend in Minsk,
Who has a friend in Pinsk,
Whose friend in Omsk
Has friend in Tomsk
With friend in Akmolinsk.
His friend in Alexandrovsk
Has friend in Petropavlovsk,
Whose friend somehow
Is solving now
The problem in Dnepropetrovsk.

And when his work is done -
Ha ha! - begins the fun.
From Dnepropetrovsk
To Petropavlovsk,
By way of Iliysk,
And Novorossiysk,
To Alexandrovsk to Akmolinsk
To Tomsk to Omsk
To Pinsk to Minsk
To me the news will run,
Yes, to me the news will run!

And then I write
By morning, night,
And afternoon,
And pretty soon
My name in Dnepropetrovsk is cursed,
When he finds out I publish first!

And who made me a big success
And brought me wealth and fame?
Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky is his name.
Hi!
Nicolai Ivanovich Lobach -

I am never forget the day my first book is published.
Every chapter I stole from somewhere else.
Index I copy from old Vladivostok telephone directory.
This book was sensational!
Pravda - well, Pravda - Pravda said: "Zhil-bil korol kogda-to, pree nyom blokha zhila" It stinks.
But Izvestia! Izvestia said: "Ya idoo kuda sam czar idyot peshkom!" It stinks.
Metro-Goldwyn-Moskva buys movie rights for six million rubles,
Changing title to 'The Eternal Triangle',
With [Brigitte Bardot] playing part of hypotenuse. [Actress depends on audience].

And who deserves the credit?
And who deserves the blame?
Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky is his name.
Hi!
Another one of interest might be "Elements", for use with the periodic table.

Adam Hair
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Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2010 4:29 am
Real Name: Adam Hair
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Re: Plagiarize!

Post by Adam Hair » Sat Mar 19, 2011 4:48 am

I guess that Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky works better in the song than Janos Boylai.

Actually, despite what Morris Kline theorized ( I am a big fan of his work concerning the history of mathematics,
but not in this case ), there is good reason to believe that Lobachevsky was largely unaware of Gauss' unpublished
work.

Ah, I see that Lehrer supposedly wrote that the song is "not intended as a slur on [Lobachevsky's] character" and the name was chosen "solely for prosodic reasons". So Lobachevsky does work better than Boyai.

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