:Jordan Ellenberg
{{Short description|American mathematician (born 1971)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Jordan Ellenberg
| image = Jordan Ellenberg.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1971|10|30}}
| birth_place = Potomac, Maryland, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| fields = Mathematics
| workplaces = University of Wisconsin–Madison
| alma_mater = Harvard University
| doctoral_advisor = Barry Mazur
| known_for =
| awards = Guggenheim Fellowship {{small|(2015)}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/jordan-s-ellenberg/|title=John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | Jordan S. Ellenberg}}
}}
Jordan Stuart Ellenberg (born October 30, 1971) is an American mathematician who is a professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.{{cite web |url=http://www.math.wisc.edu/~ellenber/ |title=Jordan S. Ellenberg |work=wisc.edu}} His research involves arithmetic geometry. He is also an author of both fiction and non-fiction writing.
Early life
Ellenberg was born in Potomac, Maryland. He was a child prodigy who taught himself to read at the age of two by watching Sesame Street.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1989/06/07/a-sine-of-a-true-genius/a29172c8-d53f-45da-920c-4e2a407ce97e/ |title=A Sine of a True Genius; Md. Youth Wins Major Math Competition: Jordan Ellenberg |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 7, 1989 |author=Amy Goldstein |access-date=October 25, 2017}} His mother discovered his ability one day while she was driving on the Capital Beltway when her toddler informed her, "The sign says 'Bethesda is to the right.'" In second grade, he helped his teenage babysitter with her math homework. By fourth grade, he was participating in high school competitions (such as the American Regions Mathematics League) as a member of the Montgomery County math team. And by eighth grade, he had started college-level work.
He was part of the Johns Hopkins University Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth longitudinal cohort. He scored a perfect 800 on the math portion and a 680 on the verbal portion of the SAT-I exam at the age of 12.{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-wrong-way-to-treat-child-geniuses-1401484790 |title=The Wrong Way to Treat Child Geniuses |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=May 30, 2014 |author=Jordan Ellenberg |access-date=December 9, 2014}} When he was in eighth grade, he took honors calculus classes at the University of Maryland; when he was a junior at Winston Churchill High School, he earned a perfect score of 1600 on the SAT; and as a high school senior, he placed second in the national Westinghouse Science Talent Search.{{cite news |title=Westinghouse Honors Three Young Scientists |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1989/01/27/westinghouse-honors-three-young-scientists/0516bf07-d1a3-4188-973d-ba37416b302b/ |access-date=October 25, 2017 |newspaper=Washington Post |author=Peter Baker |date=January 27, 1989}} He participated in the International Mathematical Olympiads three times, winning gold medals in 1987 and 1989 (with perfect scores) and a silver medal in 1988.{{cite web |url=http://www.imo-official.org/participant_r.aspx?id=1590 |title=International Mathematical Olympiad: Jordan Ellenberg |publisher=IMO |access-date=April 8, 2010}} He was also a two-time Putnam fellow (1990 and 1992) while at Harvard.{{cite web |url=http://www.maa.org/awards/putnam.html?id=1590 |title=William Lowell Putnam Competition: 1938–2008 |publisher=UNL |access-date=October 10, 2008 |archive-date=October 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003173814/http://www.maa.org/awards/putnam.html?id=1590 |url-status=dead }} Ellenberg graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University in 1993. He spent a year at Johns Hopkins University, earning an MFA in fiction writing. He returned to Harvard for his Ph.D., completing his doctoral studies under the supervision of Barry Mazur in 1998.
Career
In 2004, he began teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is currently the John D. MacArthur Professor of Mathematics, a position he has held since 2015.{{cite web |last1=Ellenberg |first1=Jordan S |title=CV |url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9T4A_0EO9-lVlZTZ2pqbXRGRlU/view |publisher=University of Wisconsin at Madison |access-date=28 January 2018}} In 2012 he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society and was a plenary speaker at the 2013 Joint Mathematics Meetings where he spoke on the subject of number theory and algebraic topology, the study of abstract high-dimensional shapes and the relations between them.[https://www.ams.org/profession/fellows-list List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society]. Retrieved December 2, 2012.{{cite web |title=2013 Joint Mathematics Meetings |url=http://jointmathematicsmeetings.org/meetings/national/jmm2013/2141_invited.html |website=American Mathematical Society |publisher=Mathematical Association of American |access-date=28 January 2018}}{{cite speech |title=How to Count with Topology |first=Jordan |last=Ellenberg |event=AMS-MAA Joint Mathematics Meetings |location=San Diego, CA |date=January 11, 2013 |url=http://quomodocumque.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/jmm-2013-plenary-talk.pdf |access-date=28 January 2018}} He was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 2015.{{cite web |title=Fellows |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/jordan-s-ellenberg/ |website=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation |access-date=28 January 2018}} He was elected as one of the six A.D. White Professors-at-Large at Cornell in 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2019/09/six-ad-white-professors-large-elected|title=Six A.D. White Professors-at-Large elected}} His research focuses on "the fields of number theory and algebraic geometry."
In addition to his research articles, he has authored a novel, The Grasshopper King,{{cite book |title=The Grasshopper King: Jordan Ellenberg: 9781566891394: Amazon.com: Books |isbn=1566891396 |last1=Ellenberg |first1=Jordan |year=2003 |publisher=Coffee House Press }} which was a finalist for the 2004 Young Lions Fiction Award;[http://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/awards/young-lions-fiction-award Young Lions Fiction Award] the "Do the Math" column in Slate;{{cite web |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/life/do_the_math.html |title=Do The Math |work=Slate Magazine}} two non-fiction books, How Not to Be Wrong;{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZTKuMBJP7Y |title=How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking |date=June 24, 2015 |work=The Royal Institution/YouTube}}{{cite book |author=Jordan Ellenberg |title=How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2k9KAgAAQBAJ |date=May 29, 2014 |publisher=Penguin Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-698-16384-3}}{{cite book |title=How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking: Jordan Ellenberg: 0884817006765: Amazon.com: Books |isbn=978-1594205224 |last1=Ellenberg |first1=Jordan |year=2014 |publisher=Penguin Publishing }} and Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else (2022),[https://www.jordanellenberg.com/book/shape/ Jodan Ellenberg: Shape] as well as articles on mathematical topics in many newspapers and general magazines.
Ellenberg was a mathematics consultant for the 2017 film Gifted, which features a math prodigy as its protagonist;{{cite news|last=Brown|first=Gretchen|date=April 27, 2017|title=UW-Madison professor part of formula for 'Gifted'|work=Wisconsin Public Radio|url=https://www.wpr.org/uw-madison-professor-part-formula-gifted|url-status=live|access-date=September 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902195207/https://www.wpr.org/uw-madison-professor-part-formula-gifted|archive-date=September 2, 2020}} he also made a cameo appearance in the film as a professor lecturing on the partition function and Ramanujan's congruences.{{cite journal|last=Jackson|first=Allyn|date=August 2017|title=Ellenberg in movie 'Gifted'|url=https://www.ams.org/publications/journals/notices/201707/rnoti-p779.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Notices of the American Mathematical Society|volume=64|issue=7|pages=779|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902193943/https://www.ams.org/publications/journals/notices/201707/rnoti-p779.pdf|archive-date=September 2, 2020|via=American Mathematical Society}} This gives him a Erdős-Bacon number of 5.{{Cite web|title=Jordan S. Ellenberg|url=http://www.math.wisc.edu/~ellenber/|access-date=2021-03-15|website=www.math.wisc.edu}}
Personal life
Ellenberg lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with his wife and children.{{cite web |last1=Ellenberg |first1=Jordan |title=About |url=http://www.jordanellenberg.com/about/ |website=Jordan Ellenberg |date=5 March 2014 |access-date=28 January 2018}} He maintains a blog called Quomodocumque which means "after whatever fashion" in Latin.{{cite web |last1=Ellenberg |first1=Jordan |title=Quomodocumque |url=https://quomodocumque.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/what-does-quomodocumque-mean/ |website=Quomodocumque |date=2 May 2008 |access-date=28 January 2018}}
Works
= Nonfiction =
- How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking (Penguin, 2014) {{ISBN|978-1594205224}}{{cite news |title=How Not to Be Wrong: The Hidden Maths of Everyday Life by Jordan Ellenberg – review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/13/how-not-to-be-wrong-hidden-maths-jordan-ellenberg-review |newspaper=The Guardian |date=June 13, 2014 |access-date=June 8, 2016 |author=Bellos, Alex}}{{cite news |title=Book review: "How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking," by Jordan Ellenberg |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/book-review-how-not-to-be-wrong-the-power-of-mathematical-thinking-by-jordan-ellenberg/2014/06/13/40527e94-d9f5-11e3-b745-87d39690c5c0_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 13, 2014 |access-date=June 8, 2016 |author=Suri, Manil}}{{cite journal |title=How Not to Be Wrong (Book Review) |url=http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/roots-of-unity/how-not-to-be-wrong-book-review/ |journal=Scientific American |date=May 31, 2014 |access-date=June 8, 2016 |author=Lamb, Evelyn}}
- Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else. [https://books.google.com/books/about/Shape.html?id=ZC4MEAAAQBAJ Description] and [https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jordan-ellenberg/shape/ Kirkus book review]. (Penguin, 2021) {{ISBN|9781984879059}}{{cite news|author=Sehgal, Parul|author-link=Parul Sehgal|title='Shape" Makes Geometry Entertaining. Really, It Does.|date=May 2021|newspaper=New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/18/books/review-shape-geometry-jordan-ellenberg.html}}{{cite journal|title=Review of Shape by Jordan Ellenberg|journal=Publishers Weekly|date=June 10, 2021|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781984879059}}
= Novels =
- The Grasshopper King (Coffee House Press, 2003) {{ISBN|978-1566891394}}
= Essays =
- {{cite news |title=The Wrong Way to Treat Child Geniuses |last=Ellenberg |first=Jordan |url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/the-wrong-way-to-treat-child-geniuses-1401484790 |access-date=June 1, 2014 |date=May 30, 2014 |newspaper=Wall Street Journal }}
- {{cite news |last1=Ellenberg |first1=Jordan |title=Don't Teach Math, Coach It |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/25/opinion/dont-teach-math-coach-it.html |access-date=28 January 2018 |work=New York Times |date=July 24, 2014}}
- {{cite web |last1=Ellenberg |first1=Jordan |title=The Beauty of Bounded Gaps |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/do_the_math/2013/05/yitang_zhang_twin_primes_conjecture_a_huge_discovery_about_prime_numbers.html |website=Slate Magazine |date=22 May 2013 |access-date=28 January 2018}}
- {{cite web |last1=Ellenberg |first1=Jordan |title=The Last Great Problem |url=https://believermag.com/the-last-great-problem |website=The Believer |date=November 2003 |access-date=28 January 2018}}
- {{cite news |title=What Honest Abe Learned from Geometry |last=Ellenberg |first=Jordan |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-honest-abe-learned-from-geometry-11621656062 |access-date=May 26, 2021 |date=May 23, 2021 |newspaper=Wall Street Journal}} Ellenberg's essay is adapted from his 2021 book, Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else, Penguin.
= Filmography =
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class = "unsortable" | Notes ! class = "unsortable" | Ref |
|---|
| 2017
| Gifted | Professor | Credited cameo |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.jordanellenberg.com/ Personal website: writings & blog]
- [http://7thavenueproject.com/post/95325097980/jordan-ellenberg-interview-how-not-to-be-wrong Interview: Jordan Ellenberg discusses mathematical misunderstandings and his book "How Not to Be Wrong" on the 7th Avenue Project radio show]
- {{MathGenealogy |id=31096 }}
- {{IMO results |id=1590 }}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellenberg, Jordan}}
Category:20th-century American mathematicians
Category:21st-century American mathematicians
Category:American number theorists
Category:Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:International Mathematical Olympiad participants
Category:Mathematics popularizers
Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty