alt Hacker NewsFirst you ask how the hell someone could come up with this construction.
Then you realize it was this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Demaine
Replies
_Donny • yesterday at 1:03 PM
Woah! It is the same guy that got me through my algorithms course at university with his youtube MIT OpenCourseWare videos!
His lectures are absolute gold. He explains everything so clearly, simply, and efficiently.
I started skipping lectures in favor of watching his videos, and it saved me countless of hours -- and I got a perfect mark :)
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fuzzythinker • yesterday at 7:57 AM
His page - https://erikdemaine.org/
heavensteeth • yesterday at 2:35 AM
>former child prodigy
I understand the idea behind that phrasing but I'm not sure I agree with it. Are you no longer a child prodigy once you turn 18? I don't think I'd ever say "former intelligent child".. Would I?
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And then you read the abstract and realize that this is an improvement of an earlier result using five polygons (which in turn built on a history of earlier results).
So, still a great result, but not as out there as one may think.
I think it's also worth pointing out that in theoretical CS and most of math, it is common to list authors alphabetically. I don't think we have a way of knowing the relative contribution of the two authors. Demaine is obviously accomplished, but I find the kind of hero worship found in this thread distasteful and the facts don't support it here. Give credit to Langerman; Demaine surely would!