You may not realize it, but literature is packed with references to football and sports. This can occur in the most unlikely places. We have searched much of today's literature
and have found a large collection of books that are an enjoyable read and contain at least on reference to both football and sports. Even though you may not believe us, trust us
each of the books in this list contains such a reference. Better yet, prove it to yourself and find the reference. Happy hunting!
Fantasy Football Challenge - Library of Books for Football Fanatics
Fantasy Football Challenge presents
Popular Science Monthly
38 of 119
and the offered prize. The following is a free translation of a
part of the announcement made in regard to this prize by the
Konigliche Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Gottingen, Germany:
On the basis of the bequest left to us by the deceased Dr. Paul
Wolskehl, of Darmstadt, a prize of 100,000 mk., in words, one
hundred thousand marks, is hereby offered to the one who will
first succeed to produce a proof of the great Fermat theorem.
Dr. Wolfskehl remarks in his will that Fermat had maintained
that the equation
x + y =
z
could not be satisfied by integers whenever is an odd
prime number. This Fermat theorem is to be proved either
generally in the sense of Fermat, or, in supplementing the
investigations by Kummer, published in Crelle's Journal, volume
40, it is to be proved for all values of for which it
is actually true. For further literature consult Hibert's
report on the theory of algebraic number realms, published in
volume 4 of the Jahreshericht der Deutschen
Mathernatiker-Vereinigung, and volume 1 of the Encyklopadie der
mathematischen Wissenschaften.
The prize is offered under the following more particular
conditions.
The Konigliche Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften in Gottingen
decides independently on the question to whom the prize shall
be awarded. Manuscripts intended to compete for the prize will
not be received, but, in awarding the prize only such
mathematical papers will be considered as have appeared either
in the regular periodicals or have been published in the form
of monographs or books which were for sale in the book-stores.
The Gesellschaft leaves it to the option of the author of such
a paper to send to it about five printed copies.
Among the additional stipulations it may be of interest to note
that the prize will not be awarded before at least two years
have elapsed since the first publication of the paper which is
adjudged as worthy of the prize. In the meantime the
mathematicians of various countries are invited to express
their opinion as regards the correctness of this paper. The
secretary of the Gesellschaft will write to the person to whom
the prize is awarded and will also publish in various places
the fact that the award has been made. If the prize has not
been awarded before September 13, 2007, no further applications
will be considered.
While this prize is open to the people of all countries it has
become especially well known in Germany, and hundreds of
Germans from a very noted university professor of mathematics
to engineers, pastors, teachers, students, bankers, officers,
etc., have published supposed proofs. These publications are
frequently very brief, covering only a few pages, and usually
they disclose the fact that the author had no idea in regard to
the real nature of the problem or the meaning of a mathematical
proof. In a few cases the authors were fully aware of the
requirements but were misled by errors in their work. Although
the prize was formally announced more than seven years ago no
paper has as yet been adjudged as fulfilling the conditions.
It may be of interest to note in this connection that a
mathematical proof implies a marshalling of mathematical
results, or accepted assumptions, in such a manner that the
thing to be proved is a NECESSARY consequence. The
non-mathematician is often inclined to think that if he makes
statements which can not be successfully refuted he has carried
his point. In mathematics such statements have no real
significance in an attempted proof. Unknowns must be labeled as
such and must retain these labels until they become knowns in
view of the conditions which they can be proved to satisfy. The
pure mathematician accepts only necessary conclusions with the
exception that basal postulates have to be assumed by common
agreement.
The mathematical subject in which the student usually has to
contend most frequently with unknowns at the beginning of his
studies is the history of mathematics. The ancient Greeks had
already attempted to trace the development of every known
concept, but the work along this line appears still in its
infancy. Even the development of our common numerals is
surrounded with many perplexing questions, as may be seen by
consulting the little volume entitled "The Hindu-Arabic
Numerals," by D. E. Smith and L. C. Karpinski.
The few mathematical unknowns explicitly noted above may
suffice to illustrate the fact that the path of the
mathematical student often leads around difficulties which are
left behind. Sometimes the later developments have enabled the
mathematicians to overcome some of these difficulties which had
stood in the way for more than a thousand years. This was done,
for instance, by Gauss when he found a necessary and sufficient
condition that a regular polygon of a prime number of sides can
be constructed by elementary methods. It was also done by
Hermite, Lindemann and others by proving that epsilon and rho
are transcendental numbers. While such obstructions are thus
being gradually removed some of the most ancient ones still
remain, and new ones are rising rapidly in view of modern
developments along the lines of least resistance.
These obstructions have different effects on different people.
Some fix their attention almost wholly on them and are thus
impressed by the lack of progress in mathematics, while others
overlook them almost entirely and fix their attention on the
routes into new fields which avoid these difficulties. A
correct view of mathematics seems to be the one which looks at
both, receiving inspiration from the real advances but not
forgetting the desirability of making the developments as
continuous as possible. At any rate the average educated man
ought to know that there is no mathematician who is able to
solve all the mathematical questions which could be proposed
even by those having only slight attainments along this line.
THE ABORIGINAL ROCK-STENCILLINGS OF NEW SOUTH WALES
BY DR. CHAS. B. DAVENPORT
COLD SPRING HARBOR, N. Y.
IN a number of places in eastern Australia curious aboriginal
markings are found on the faces of the sandstone cliffs. A good
idea of them is given by the photographs. These came from
Wolgan Gap near Wallerang in the Blue Mountain region of New
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