To: Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@grnail.com> Cc: •S . Subject: The Polymath project: collaborative mathematical proof Date: Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:41:42 +0000 Attachments: Dear Jeffrey, It was SO GREAT to meet you - thank you for the visit, especially the conversation. You're an amazing person, and I'm lucky. :) Here's a link to a blog post discussing the polymath project I mentioned. Terry Tao has put together a fascinating timeline of events in the proof here: http://michaelnielsen.org/polymathl/index.php?title=Timeline Tim Gowers' ground rules: The first comment in this post is your question: how is attribution given? Gowers' (unsatisfying) answer: "I don't know what happens with large collaborations in other subjects, but I've often wondered how one is supposed to evaluate a chemist, for example, who works as a member of a large team in a laboratory, for hiring purposes." An open and interesting question. I've attached a short piece I wrote with my advisor and three of his grad students. It explains the motivation for my current work in openness in research, and showcases a component of my thesis work. PS. Here's one of Tao's most famous blog posts: EFTA00769858