Talk:Terence Tao

message: I fail to see how this is unreliable. It has the proof right there.  --86.173.167.16 (talk) 18:14, 8 March 2017 (UTC)
thread_title: Evidence

message: Why is it said that the preprint claimed to proof the existence of arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions? This implies to me that there is reason to believe that the proof is wrong. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 11:00, 7 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I guess it doesn't matter anymore as someone has changed the wording to not say "claimed", but anyway, Tao's webpage lists the preprint as having been accepted for publication to the Annals.  So using such careful language at this point can be considered being overly skeptical.  --C S (Talk) 12:14, 7 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Claimed to prove?

message: Could he be considered an Australian still? Please help us at Talk:Chinese_Australian#Tereance_Tao. enochlau (talk) 11:11, 21 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Australian? 

message: He is supposedly getting a Fields Medal later this year; but this can't go in the article at this point. Charles Matthews 08:12, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Heh.  This is starting to remind me of the Apple-related pages like iPod.  Anybody taking bets?  --C S (Talk) 09:56, 21 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I remembered Jean-Pierre Serre was a young winner and indeed he won at 28. Not sure if he's the youngest or not, but younger than Tao.--T. Anthony 12:33, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: This article says Tao is 31. By the way - welcome back! Jpe|ob 12:35, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I was sincere in leaving and my page still has "Former:Wikipedian" on it. I consider that accurate in a way as I no longer think Wikipedia is useful in design or execution. I don't consider myself a Wikipedian anymore. However, to my dismay, I do still find it fun on occasion.--T. Anthony 13:57, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

text: Nevermind, I get it, you have to be under 40 to get the Fields Medal. Stateful 01:38, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

text: There are several lifetime achievement awards, but traditionally, for awards purely in mathematics (in general), the Wolf Prize in Mathematics and the Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement are probably the most prestigious.  The Abel Prize is also such an award and very high-profile, but is fairly new compared to the others.  --C S (Talk) 17:43, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Fields Medal rumour

message: Whoever bet it was true wins...I don't know something.. Also he is the youngest winner?--T. Anthony 12:30, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I remembered Jean-Pierre Serre was a young winner and indeed he won at 28. Not sure if he's the youngest or not, but younger than Tao.--T. Anthony 12:33, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: This article says Tao is 31. By the way - welcome back! Jpe|ob 12:35, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I was sincere in leaving and my page still has "Former:Wikipedian" on it. I consider that accurate in a way as I no longer think Wikipedia is useful in design or execution. I don't consider myself a Wikipedian anymore. However, to my dismay, I do still find it fun on occasion.--T. Anthony 13:57, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: The rumor is true

message: "...the most important award for younger mathematicians." -- What's the most important award for older mathematicians?  Stateful 01:38, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Nevermind, I get it, you have to be under 40 to get the Fields Medal. Stateful 01:38, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: There are several lifetime achievement awards, but traditionally, for awards purely in mathematics (in general), the Wolf Prize in Mathematics and the Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement are probably the most prestigious.  The Abel Prize is also such an award and very high-profile, but is fairly new compared to the others.  --C S (Talk) 17:43, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Most important award?

message: Not questioning Tao's qualities and feats, it could still be noted somehow that in being the youngest IMO participant or the youngest gold medal winner, the country one represents is a considerable factor (i.e. most top performance countries would not select an 11-year-old student, however good s/he be; PR China never selects a student before his/her final year a.f.a.i.k.)
I'm sorry but how does the fact that Tao is the youngest winner have anything to do with China's IMO selection process?  Who cares what China's IMO selection process is or any other country's selection process is? If China is stupid enough to  discriminate by age instead of by score, then tough luck. 66.171.76.210 05:41, 25 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Olympiad details

message: I find the current picture in the lead rather tawdry.  It's better to have his photo that is in the later part of the article.  --C S (Talk) 17:43, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, ok it seems somebody has now put both pictures at the top.  But I think if we just have the portrait photo at the top, it can be larger.  I'm not convinced the timeline picture is really that great and perhaps we should just not include it at all.  --C S (Talk) 17:47, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Lead picture

message: Its nice to have their family member in chinese names, but there should be Hanyu Pinyin and also cantonese pronounciation as a guide.
just a thought
--Visik 11:33, 25 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Hanyu pinyin for names

message: What ever happened to Terry's portrait? We should use the one from his Fields Medal awards ceremony. The previous one I agree makes him look too geeky. In real life he looks much more butch. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.9.129.164 (talk • contribs) 00:48, 30 November 2006
:You should be more specific. What picture from the ceremony should we be using? Does "the previous one" refer to the photo of somebody else that you added? 
:You should also participate in the discussion about the description of the Fields Medal above before changing it. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 01:31, 30 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Here is the link to the photo of Terence in action. I feel it shows his passion for mathematics, and shows him in action in the classroom. http://www.crm.umontreal.ca/Aisenstadt/Tao/Tao/images/3.TerenceTao.jpg
Terry is a real macho man in real life. I remember seeing pictures of him wall climbing and mud wrestling. I will try and find those.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.97.7.169 (talk) 12:59, 1 April 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Portrait 

message: Is this really so notable a nickname?  It appears to me that Garnett (UCLA) compared him to Mozart, a few newspapers picked up the "mozart of maths" title, and now somebody added it prominently to the article in the belief that this is a notable nickname. --C S (Talk) 01:28, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: That's also my impression, so I removed it (again). By the way, why is this article in :Category:Calculating prodigies? I can't find anything in the article about his being particularly good at mental arithmetic. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 18:51, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

text: As Tao has become more popular among the media, his nickname has also gained a lot more popularity. Virtually every popular science magazine (and Masterclass) introduces him through his nickname. Ramanujaner (talk) 13:37, 7 April 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Mozart of maths 

message: He beat my by 20 points even when I was 11 year old. I always thought I was good at math =P
:Keep in mind, this was the pre 1995 SAT, in which it was extremely difficult to score above 700, much more difficult than it is now.  Back then, only one or two people in a couple of years would recieve perfect scores.  Knowing this, that score almost passes belief.--Hypergeometric2F1(a,b,c,x) 00:20, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Nonsense. Back in 1993, I got 800 (as an old man of fifteen), and I would be extremely surprised if this turned out to be uncommon.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.16.204.78 (talk) 14:26, 17 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, the claim of extreme difficulty seems far-fetched.  I recall when colleges were sending out their recruiting junk in the mid 1990s, MIT had data for their entering classes for the several previous years, and it seemed a large number had 800s in math (they also bragged about how many with 800 they turned away...)  --C S (talk) 05:41, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

text: Lol! I don't think it's appropriate to measure genius according to a mere test/IQ test. I read about lots of unusually high IQ super smart child prodigies who failed to produce groundbreaking results. So why look at his childhood? Look at him now and his RESEARCH work, and btw I got to PERSONALLY speak with him when he visited UNSW on 16th sep. Could understand 2.5% of what he said Breath of the Dying (talk) 12:02, 18 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  I Lose 

message: I think this article should be improved. This is the biography of a brilliant mathematician. This article can achieve GA status. Masterpiece2000 (talk) 09:22, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Improvement 

message: This article is one of a  number selected for the early stage of the trial of the Wikipedia:Pending Changes system on the English language Wikipedia. All the articles listed at Wikipedia:Pending changes/Queue   are being considered for level 1 pending changes protection.
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Comments on the suitability of theis page for "Pending changes"  would be appreciated.
Please update the Queue page as appropriate.
Note that I am not involved in this project any much more than any other editor, just posting these notes since it is quite a big change, potentially
Regards, Rich Farmbrough, 00:17, 17 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Pending changes

message: The article currently says
: His father told the press that at the age of two, during a family gathering, Tao attempted to teach a 5-year-old child mathematics and English.
For what it's worth, Prof. Tao briefly discussed that story on his blog. He said:
: That particular story about myself seems to have grown in the retelling. I personally don’t remember it, but as I understand it, I was trying to explain to some slightly older kids how to count, using number blocks. I suppose this could be called “teaching mathematics”, but not of a particularly advanced nature.
Perhaps it would be more accurate to change "mathematics" to "counting".
24.220.188.43 (talk) 05:30, 27 August 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Age Two Story 

message: It's completely subjective what "single most famous contribution" is. This should be removed, but LJosil keeps reverting edits.
— Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.1.16.192 (talk) 16:34, 2 April 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: The article was last edited by LJosil, yet I cannot find the phrase "single most famous contribution". Are you sure you're not looking at an old version? Rivertorch (talk) 17:06, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

text: Actually, the reason why I keep reverting these edits is because the edits have nothing to do with contributions, famous or otherwise. In short, whoever is doing this editing is lying in the edit summary. LJosil (talk) 00:31, 3 April 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, it's possible that they're just very confused. If the misleading summaries from multiple IPs continue, the article should probably be semiprotected. I'd really like to hear back from IP 67.1.16.192 who opened this thread, though. Rivertorch (talk) 04:39, 3 April 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Most famous contribution 

message: If you do a quick Google search, you will soon find quite a few websites that this man is, as of July 2016, the individdual who has the world's highest IQ,with an IQ of over 200. Should this be included in this article?Vorbee (talk) 15:36, 3 July 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Highest intelligence quotient

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: The short description says: Australian-American mathematician and astrophysicist.  I am surprised by this characterization.  The opening sentence of the article say that "Terence Chi-Shen Tao ... is an Australian-American mathematician."  In the article, the substring "astrophysic" occurs only once, and only to describe that Professor Tao's mother has a degree in astrophysics.  Unless someone can explain to me why and how he is an astrophysicist, I am going to delete that from the short description in a few days' time. -- Roger Hui (talk) 17:29, 12 November 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: He is definitely not an astrophysicist. Tao sometimes gives public lectures on the cosmic distance ladder, which somebody probably interpreted to mean that he does astrophysics. I've deleted it from the description. Gumshoe2 (talk) 19:52, 12 November 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Astrophysicist? 

message: I would say he is an Australian. He works in America and has citizenship perhaps. Doesn't make him American. You can also mention his ancestry in the start of his bio if you want to shower praise on all countries involved 124.171.82.85 (talk) 09:24, 7 February 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Australian and American? 

message: The article says she is Chinese-American. This is not true. She is Korean-American. I don't have any evidence for this, so I think that the article shouldn't mention her ethnicity unless someone can find a source.   134.173.92.3 (talk) 16:40, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Why do you think that she is not Chinese-American? Several sources claim her to be Chinese-born (although none of them are reliable). Felixsj (talk) 14:07, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wife's Ethnicity  

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