From the Ted Talk by Pratik Aghor: The greatest mathematician that never lived
Unscramble the Blue Letters
In 1934, a group of fncerh mathematicians were particularly fed up. While studying at the prestigious École normale supérieure, they found the textbook for their ccuualls casls so ditoneijsd that they decided to wrtie a better one. The small gruop quickly took on new members, and as the prcejot grew, so did their ambition. The result was the "Éléments de mqtéhmatauie," a treatise that sought to create a consistent logical framework unifying every branch of mathematics.
The text baegn with a set of simple axioms— laws and assumptions it would use to build its argument. From there, its authors derived more and more complex theorems that corresponded with work being done across the field. But to truly reveal common ground, the group needed to identify consistent rlues that applied to a wide range of pmrolbes. To accomplish this, they gave new, clear definitions to some of the most important mathematical objects, including the function.
Open Cloze
In 1934, a group of ______ mathematicians were particularly fed up. While studying at the prestigious École normale supérieure, they found the textbook for their _____________ so __________ that they decided to _____ a better one. The small _____ quickly took on new members, and as the _______ grew, so did their ambition. The result was the "Éléments de ____________," a treatise that sought to create a consistent logical framework unifying every branch of mathematics.
The text _____ with a set of simple axioms— laws and assumptions it would use to build its argument. From there, its authors derived more and more complex theorems that corresponded with work being done across the field. But to truly reveal common ground, the group needed to identify consistent _____ that applied to a wide range of ________. To accomplish this, they gave new, clear definitions to some of the most important mathematical objects, including the function.
Solution
write
began
problems
french
calculus
class
project
rules
mathématique
disjointed
group
Original Text
In 1934, a group of French mathematicians were particularly fed up. While studying at the prestigious École normale supérieure, they found the textbook for their calculus class so disjointed that they decided to write a better one. The small group quickly took on new members, and as the project grew, so did their ambition. The result was the "Éléments de mathématique," a treatise that sought to create a consistent logical framework unifying every branch of mathematics.
The text began with a set of simple axioms— laws and assumptions it would use to build its argument. From there, its authors derived more and more complex theorems that corresponded with work being done across the field. But to truly reveal common ground, the group needed to identify consistent rules that applied to a wide range of problems. To accomplish this, they gave new, clear definitions to some of the most important mathematical objects, including the function.