28.8.07
Galois
Another play from the festival. They began with a brilliant pocket history of the French revolution (including mime and puppets). They made a valiant run at the mathematics involved, writing quadratic, cubic, quartic, and quintic equations on the blackboard. But not even a straightedge and compass. If King Louis can get a puppet, can't field theory get one too?
The play puts forward the theory that Galois sacrificed himself to foment revolution, ignoring his own reference to a duel over a woman in his last letter. But it did inspire me to reread the history.
The scene where Cauchy dismisses Galois's work as incomprehensible reminded me of too many reviews I had written. But one of my students took the story to heart, saying that it drove home how it is not enough to have an idea, it is just as vital to communicate it!
The play puts forward the theory that Galois sacrificed himself to foment revolution, ignoring his own reference to a duel over a woman in his last letter. But it did inspire me to reread the history.
The scene where Cauchy dismisses Galois's work as incomprehensible reminded me of too many reviews I had written. But one of my students took the story to heart, saying that it drove home how it is not enough to have an idea, it is just as vital to communicate it!
