Tragic Deaths of Three Great Scientists

A more recent example is that of Yutaka Taniyama, a Japanese mathematician, who committed suicide in 1958. He along with Goro Shimura gave the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture. In early eighties it was shown that proof of this conjecture is equivalent to the proof of Fermat`s last theorem. It was this conjecture which was proved by Andrew Wiles ten years ago.

The following is from an article by Dijon Surendran.

In November 1957, he met a girl called Misako Suzuki and they got engaged a few months later. By the time of his 31st birthday they were busy preparing for their wedding. Five days later, he killed himself. The suicide note was three pages long, and included this extract:

``Until yesterday I have had no definite intention of killing myself. But more than a few must have noticed I have been tired both physically and mentally. As to the cause of my suicide, I don`t quite understand it myself, but it is not the result of a particular incident, nor of a specific matter. Merely may I say, I am in the frame of mind that I lost confidence in my future. There may be some to whom my suicide will be troubling or a blow to a certain degree. I sincerely hope that this incident will cast no dark shadow over the future of that person. At any rate I cannot deny that this is a kind of betrayal, but please excuse it as my last act in my own way, as I have been doing all my life.``

He then went on to describe how his belongings were to be shared out, which books had to be returned to which library, where he was with the courses he was teaching, and so on. Meticulous and considerate to the end.

His friends were utterly shocked and his fiancee killed herself less than a month later `to join him`.

ZaraJ:
Thanks for your posts. Yes. the boundary conditions are essential part of a mathematical theory. wishing you well,

Mohammad Gill

Freethinker:

[People hold diffetrent views even on the results which are derived mathematically in the scientific theories. There is usually not much room for disgreement in such situations if the basic derivation is mathematically sound. Such disagreements mostly arise from the assumptions which go into the derivation. ]

Freethinking with some boundary conditions ?

I liked the above.

Dear Freethinker: Thank you for an informative article. I found the highlighted passages quite interesting. I would like to also thank Chowk for publishing your educational and informative work. Your hard work, passion for the subject and dedication is quite evident and admirable. On another note, you have also highlighted several points under the heading of this article. I do not know if that was intentional or unintentional :) Still, you have a lot going on here... Probably, that meets or exceeds the ideas of your own freethinking in some way or shape. I definitely enjoyed reading your contribution.

I.
[Then I started thinking how many other great scientists and intellectuals were victims of peer rejection, social mores, religious dogmas, self-inflicted introverted tortures, etc. The names started popping up in my mind. Among them was Socrates (469-399BCE) who was forced to death by drinking a cup of hemlock, Archimedes (287-212BCE) who was put to death by a Roman soldier who thought he was ignored and not given due respect by Archimedes who at that moment was in deep thought pondering over a mathematical problem.]

II.
[Then there was Hypatia of Alexandria (-415CE), who was a great mathematician and astronomer of her time, and a woman of supreme beauty. Being a woman mathematician and astrologer in 4th century Alexandria was a dangerous occupation. The Council of Laodicea had outlawed divination in 364 CE and forbade to practice mathematics and astrology. Canon 36 states: They, who are of the priest-hood, or of the clergy, shall not be magicians, enchanters, or astrologers; nor shall they make what are called amulets, which are chains for their own souls. And those who wear such, we commend to be cast out of the Church. In 1415 CE when she was returning home from teaching, Hypatia was set upon by a Christian mob and was dragged into a church where she was stripped naked, killed, and the skin scraped from her body by sharp objects. Religious obsession truly drives people mad; they become beasts.]

III.
[Boltzmann’s equation is inscribed on his tombstone in memory of his prominent contributions to physics, in particular to thermodynamics. ]

Regards.

plancherel:

That`s okay with me. People hold diffetrent views even on the results which are derived mathematically in the scientific theories. There is usually not much room for disgreement in such situations if the basic derivation is mathematically sound. Such disagreements mostly arise from the assumptions which go into the derivation.

My essays are not that much logical although I do try to keep my personal prejudice out of the arguments. Thanks for your feedback.

Mohammad Gill

Gill Sahib, I may not always agree with your conclusions but I
appreciate the effort you put in writing about topics related to
science.

Raw_Dust:

Thank God my article did appeal to you and you took the time to say so. I feel sorry for omar_r_quraishi and fuji who didn`t see any point in the article. It appears that the article particulaly offended Mr. Quraishy who questioned the relevance of my other articles too. I am only human; I`m sorry if I let them down. But it`s the honest truth that I spent a lot of time in writing the articles particularly of `scientific flavor`.

Wishing you well,

Mohammad Gill

I like this article Gill Sahib. Edwin Armstrong came to my mind who invented FM-radio and was driven to death by none other than FCC. One of those individuals who lived a life of passion just like the ones you mentioned.


``Life of the mind, there is no road-map for it`` - Barton Fink

yes exactly -- what is the point of this writer`s pieces generally?????

Nothing out of the ordinary compared to the tragic deaths of other members of humanity, regardless of what they did to spend their time. So your point was ... ?