By: Ohad Samet

Paul Erdős was a renowned Hungarian mathematician who, at the age of 21 received a PhD in mathematics, and eight years after being accepted to university began wandering around the world. What do I mean by wandering? Well, it is said that upon finding a problem he was interested in (usually simple problems with complex solutions), he would schedule to work on it with another mathematician, go to his house, stay on his couch and not leave until the problem was solved. In this manner he published 458 articles with collaborators, which is a huge amount. His dedication and passion for mathematics made him a center for activity of very skilled men in the field he loved the most. His work was so significant that anyone who was associated with him, directly or indirectly, received a number describing his proximity to Erdős – those who worked with him directly were “Erdős number 1”, those who worked with his number ones, were assigned “Erdős number 2” and so on.