Are Mathematicians Sadists?

Alex Bellos tells readers of the Guardian about the Brazilian math teacher who earned literary acclaim under the nom de plume Malba Tahan.

Julio Cesar de Mello e Sousa's most famous book, known in English as The Man Who Counted, tells the story of Beremiz Samir, a 13th century Persian mathematician who solves real problems using mathematics.

Popular as Sousa's work became, however, his grandson André Periera Neto says that Brazil's mathematicians are not fans of the author. “Mathematicians don’t like him because he made maths easy, and that’s not what their objective is," Neto explains. "My grandfather always used to say that mathematicians are sadists, since they like to see pupils suffer.”

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