Paul Erdős

Early Life and Career

Paul Erdős was a Hungarian mathematician whose unparalleled passion for numbers made him one of the most prolific mathematicians of the 20th century. Born in Budapest in 1913 to two Jewish mathematics teachers, Erdős displayed an extraordinary aptitude for numbers from an early age. His childhood was marked by tragedy, as his two older sisters succumbed to scarlet fever before he was born. Despite this, his love for mathematics flourished, leading him to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Budapest in 1934.

Unlike most scholars, Erdős lived an unconventional, nomadic lifestyle. He never married, held no permanent job, and carried all his belongings in a suitcase as he traveled from one university to another, collaborating with mathematicians across the globe. He affectionately referred to his hosts—friends and colleagues who provided him lodging—as his “temporary homes.”

Erdős had a peculiar and charmingly idiosyncratic vocabulary. He called children “epsilons,” women “bosses,” and alcohol “poison.” Fueled by caffeine and amphetamines, he famously worked for long, uninterrupted stretches, believing they helped him focus on solving mathematical problems.

His contributions spanned multiple fields, including discrete mathematics, number theory, graph theory, approximation theory, set theory, and probability theory. With over 1,500 published papers, Erdős was a master collaborator, engaging with an extensive network of fellow mathematicians. His legacy inspired the creation of the “Erdős number,” a unique way to measure the collaborative distance between a mathematician and Erdős through co-authorship of papers.

Even in his final moments, Erdős remained devoted to his craft. He passed away in 1996 at the age of 83 while attending a mathematics conference in Warsaw, Poland. His influence endures, not just in the theorems he left behind, but in the spirit of mathematical collaboration he so passionately championed.