Talk:Ivan M. Niven

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He seems to have had an asteroid [1] named after him - for a brief bio/fact that the asteroid was named after him, see here: [2] VivaEmilyDavies 04:20, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I incorporated this and other facts from the journal into the article today. Oliphaunt 00:31, 24 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Disputed

"He...completed the proof of Waring's problem in 1943."

Waring's problem has a notable history, but it was proved in 1909. So what exactly did Niven complete? 59.112.47.213 19:22, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The paper is, apparently, Nivan, Ivan M. (1944). "An unsolved case of the Waring problem". American Journal of Mathematics. 66: 137–143.

According to it, the previous solution didn't handle the case where 3ⁿ ≡ -floor(3ⁿ/2ⁿ) - 2 (mod 2ⁿ).

So, taking this paper at its word, I think the claim is justified. I'll edit a citation into the article though I don't see it as needing much more detail.

—David Eppstein 03:21, 17 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

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Mathematics: A House Built on Sand?

A casual online search for works by Niven leads to a book entitled Mathematics: A House Built on Sand, published in 1959 by the University of Oregon. It's listed, for instance, in the Portuguese Wikipedia page about Niven. It seems to be very difficult to find. Is it worth listing here? Michael Kinyon (talk) 16:38, 8 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Probably course notes on foundations of mathematics at U. Oregon. Could not find it. If someone uploads it to archive.org then it will not be so obscure, but until then it would be distracting and leading to a waste of time.— Rgdboer (talk) 02:50, 9 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I've ordered it through Interlibrary Loan. Whether we include it or not, it should be an amusing read. Michael Kinyon (talk) 19:38, 14 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Considering The Sand Reckoner and sandy counting boards, it may also be about history of mathematics. — Rgdboer (talk) 22:09, 16 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]