I was sorry to hear that Ron Graham, the great mathematician and juggler, died last week. I first heard of him decades ago, in my teens, and he seemed amazing: he did math and juggled and was a magician and helped Paul Erdős and did many, many other things. I never met him or even saw him in person, but he was always out there as an inspiration. Just last month I read Magical Mathematics: The Mathematical Ideas That Animate Great Magic Tricks, which he wrote with Persi Diaconis.
Some obits:
- American Mathematical Society obit
- International Jugglers’ Association obit
- Numberphile podcast obit
A remarkable life, and one from which we can all learn lessons.
Here’s a video clip from 1980 where he talks about juggling and math.