Nature 464, 165 (11 March 2010) | doi:10.1038/464165a; Published online 10 March 2010 (RESTRICTED)

BOOK REVIEWED-Perfect Rigor: A Genius and the Mathematical Breakthrough of the Century
by Masha Gessen
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: 2009. 256 pp. $26

Nature 427, 388-389 (29 January 2004) | doi:10.1038/427388a (restricted)

A reclusive Russian claims to have solved a century-old mathematical problem — but his enigmatic personality is adding a fresh dimension to the proof-checking process. Emily Singer reports.

Über den getesteten Verstand und den Unverstand des Testens

Alle gravierenden Einwände nützen nichts: Menschen werden mit Intelligenztests weiterhin traktiert und taxiert. - Ein Blick in die Geschichte und Gegenwart einer eigentümlichen Obsession.

The current form of the Particle properties tables stems directly from a 1957 article in the Annual review of nuclear science, by Gell-Mann and Rosenfeld.

Data on particles were becoming available at an increasing rate, and even before the Annual Review volume was published, Walter H. Barkas and A. H. Rosenfeld decided to make the first update of the table of masses and mean lives. It appeared as Lawrence Radiation Laboratory Report UCRL-8030 (unpublished). Thus 1957 saw the first edition of UCRL-8030: Data for elementary-particle physics.

The first revision of UCRL-8030 was made in 1958, accompanied by a "wallet card".

In 1963, Matts Roos's Tables of elementary particles and resonant states illustrated that it was no longer possible for a single person to compile data critically. Thus, as he saw the Rosenfeld et al.'s computerized draft of the 1964 edition, he suggested combining efforts.

...

Jorge Cham's comic strip, capturing the trials and tribulations of grad school, became so popular that he left the lab for a career as a cartoonist and lecturer.