Talk:Ernst Kummer

Untitled
Hi,

I apologize for my comment referring to the section I removed as vandalism (the proof of the infinitude of primes). It seems the proof comes from Ribenboim's new book on prime number records. I am still convinced however that such a triviality should not appear so prominently in the article on a great mathematician as Kummer. It is merely a curiosity, not relating to any of Kummer's actual achievements. I've now reverted the removal. I maintain that it doesn't belong on this page, but I guess the authors of this article should have a say in it. I suggest to replace the section with a link to http://primes.utm.edu/notes/proofs/infinite/kummers.html

I was just about to come to this page to post a question why this proof is here when I saw someone already had. It is not exactly a triviality, but is virtually identical to Euclid's famous and much older proof of the same thing, except for the replacement of n + 1 by n - 1. It's not clear what to do with it; if it's in Ribbenboim's book then it's (sadly) now notable, but on the other hand, it really isn't. Ryan Reich 21:34, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

Box
In the box on the right, only Bessel functions are mentioned. Actually, Kummer made many other contributions. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.147.112.221 (talk) 11:06, 16 September 2009 (UTC)
 * They are now mentioned in the box, vaguely.

Misleading link
The external link said to lead to Mathworld actually links to a different site.
 * The wrong reference has now gone.

Article summary?
The first part - before the contents - says: Ernst Eduard Kummer (29 January 1810 – 14 May 1893) was a German mathematician. Skilled in applied mathematics, Kummer trained German army officers in ballistics; afterwards, he taught for 10 years in a gymnasium, the German equivalent of high school, where he inspired the mathematical career of Leopold Kronecker.

Is this a summary of the article? The second sentence lists precisely the less important characteristics of Kummer's life and personality. I propose to strike it out.HarDan (talk) 13:28, 4 May 2014 (UTC)

Also, it seems to me that Lomonosov University is mentioned (in the box on the right) by mistake - I have not found any mention of it in any other source on Kummer. If someone thinks this is correct, please comment.HarDan (talk) 14:41, 9 May 2014 (UTC)