Pure Math David Irving（纯粹的数学大卫·欧文）.pdfVIP

Pure Math 101 Pure Math I MOVED up to London in October 1956 and entered the Royal College of Science. This was one of the three colleges comprising Imperial College, in a broad expanse of noble buildings stretching south from the Royal Albert Hall to the museums and South Ken- sington. The small bed-sit that I rented in Beauchamp Place cost three pounds and ten shillings a week (350p); I paid the ICI schol- arship and the Essex County Council grant into the National Pro- vincial Bank opposite the station, opened my first account, bought yellow woolen gloves, and became an undergraduate. The first year was a Preliminary Year, a crash course designed to bring ten classics students selected from the entire country up to the regular science-degree entry level from scratch. It had not been attempted before; Imperial Chemical Industries were sponsoring the government’s pilot scheme and providing the scholarships. We ten would have eight months to reach “A” level standards in pure and applied mathematics, chemistry, and physics, and “O” level in a modern language (I chose Russian). The whole year was seen as something of an experiment: would it be possible to create technologists, the proverbial sows’ ears, out 101 102 david irving Confidential Draft of Memoirs of us classical silk purses who had left school? The Royal College of Science was in a tall building that was all portals and pediments, with Corinthian columns to either side of its portico. It was half way down Prince Consort Road (••). On one corner of Exhibition Road facing the post office stood a red brick building that housed The Computer that belonged to the math- ematics department – they were big animals in those days, with tiny brains and huge bodies consuming kilowatts of power. In California, IBM had just