this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2025
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Science Memes

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I'm too stupid for this (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 5 days ago by Stamets@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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[–] Septimaeus@infosec.pub 150 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

Cropped image of a textbook page with an anecdote which reads “One day Shizuo Kakutani (1911- ) was teaching a class at Yale. He wrote down a lemma on the blackboard and announced that the proof was obvi-ous. One student timidly raised his hand and said that it wasn't obvious to him. Could Kakutani explain? After several moments' thought, Kakutani realized that he could not himself prove the lemma. He apologized, and said that he would report back at their next class meeting. After class, Kakutani went straight to his office. He labored for quite a time and found that he could not prove the pesky lemma. He skipped lunch and went to the library to track down the lemma. After much work, he finally found the original paper. The lemma was stated clearly and suc-cinctly. For the proof, the author had written, ‘Exercise for the reader.’ The author of this 1941 paper was Kakutani.”

Classic anecdote of the missing proof for Shizuo Kakutani’s lemma.

[–] icelimit@lemmy.ml 22 points 5 days ago (2 children)

What happened then?

[–] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 42 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Actually seems like it might be an apocryphal story, based on my googling

[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 19 points 5 days ago

I'm pretty sure everyone clapped.

[–] ThatGuy46475@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

Reminds me of studying my notes in school