Pro-Semitism
As the president of Harvard has pointed out, many have found good reasons recently to become anti-Semites.
Here are three good reasons to be pro-Semitic:
- Jordan Ellenberg’s course on Numbers, Equations, and Proofs this fall at Princeton,
- Ellenberg’s phrase, contained in a syllabus for that course (3-7 Nov. 2003):
“The heartbreaking failure of unique factorization,” and - Ellenberg himself.
Unlike many with a Harvard background who project with success the appearance of intelligence, Ellenberg seems to be in fact genuinely intelligent… a rare thing.
He also seems to be Jewish… This may be false, though, since Elllenberg, intelligently, does not state any ethnic or religious preferences.
Fine Hall 1201
The classic question of Sir Laurence Olivier– “Is it safe?”– may, in view of the above, be answered in the affirmative… provided, that is, that the “it” refers to number theory at Princeton… one of the crowning glories of Western civilization.