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"Paul Erdos, 83, a Wayfarer at Math's Pinnacle, is Dead," by Gina Kolata. New York Times, 24 September 1996, page A1.
"Paul Erdos, an Eccentric Titan of Mathematical Theory, Dies," by Richard Pearson. Washington Post, 24 September 1996, page M1.
"Paul Erdos, Sweet Genius," by Charles Krauthammer. Washington Post, 27 September 1996, page A25.
Paul Erdos died on September 20, 1996 while attending a mathematics conference in Warsaw. These articles---the first two are obituaries, the third is an editorial--- speak of Erdos's prolific work in mathematics, his many collaborators, and his nomadic way of living. Erdos was the author of more than 1500 papers in mathematics, and more will be published posthumously, as a result of the many collaborations he was pursuing at the time of his death. An expert in number theory and graph theory, Erdos was, according to one mathematician quoted in the Times obituary, ``the prince of problem solvers and the absolute monarch of problem posers.'' He had little money and few possessions, and what he did have he gave away. ``From Bobby Fischer to Howard Hughes, obsession and misanthropy seem to go together,'' writes Krauthammer. ``Not so Erdos. He was gentle, open and generous with others.''
-Allyn Jackson
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