Your first error occured on page X

In 1908, the amateur mathematician Paul Wolfskehl, who had always been fascinated by Fermat’s last theorem, bequeathed a prize of one hundred thousand marks to whoever could prove the theorem. This generous prize greatly increased public awareness of the problem, with the result that the University of Göttingen, which was to administer the prize, was deluged with attempts at proofs. Eventually, Edmund Landau, the head of the mathematics department, resorted to sending printed cards acknowledging submissions and stating on which page and line the first error occurred, as it unfailingly did.  — Thomson Gale (I don’t know if that entity is a person, business, or other organization.)

I’m triaging philosophical works, and I keep coming back to Landau’s solution.  So, Lewis, Clive Staples.  Miracles, A Preliminary Study.  New York: Macmillan 1947.  Your first error occurs on page 21.

I’ll follow this up in my quest to find a place for agency in a naturalistic worldview.

2 Responses to “Your first error occured on page X”

Read below or add a comment...

  1. w00t!  Double standard time!  Reading The Origin of Species, and completely ignoring the errors!

  2. Not reading The Origin of Species to find a place for agency, mind you, just reading it.

Leave A Comment...

CommentLuv badge