“If we could be any mathematician in the history of the world (besides ourselves), who would we rather be? …we narrowed the choice down to Euler and Pólya, and finally settled on George Pólya because of the sheer enjoyment of mathematics that he has conveyed by so many examples.”

— George Pólya

Donald E. Knuth, comments at Pólya's 90th birthday celebration quoted by Gerald L. Alexanderson, The Random Walks of George Polya (2000)

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George Pólya35

Hungarian mathematician 1887–1985

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“If we could be any mathematician in the history of the world (besides ourselves), who would we rather be? …we narrowed the choice down to Euler and Pólya, and finally settled on George Pólya because of the sheer enjoyment of mathematics that he has conveyed by so many examples.”

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