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A joke mathematicians tell -- request for source

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peps...@gmail.com

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May 18, 2013, 4:32:39 AM5/18/13
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There's a joke (easily googlable) about a rabbit who writes a Ph.D thesis saying that rabbits eat foxes (sometimes it's wolves). I've heard this joke a few times in maths circles but there's no maths content to it. Does anyone know the source/origins of this joke?

Paul Epstein

gus gassmann

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May 18, 2013, 9:39:50 AM5/18/13
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On 18/05/2013 5:32 AM, peps...@gmail.com wrote:
> There's a joke (easily googlable) about a rabbit who writes a Ph.D thesis saying that rabbits eat foxes (sometimes it's wolves). I've heard this joke a few times in maths circles but there's no maths content to it. Does anyone know the source/origins of this joke?

I am sure you've done your own research, but this:

https://www.facebook.com/SpringerEducation/posts/367124693403036

claims it was originated in the EE and CS department at MIT, mentioning
both Bill Freeman and Charles Leiserson. Since both are easily reachable
by email, you could try asking them to see if one admits authorship.

gus gassmann

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May 18, 2013, 9:46:25 AM5/18/13
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On 18/05/2013 5:32 AM, peps...@gmail.com wrote:
> There's a joke (easily googlable) about a rabbit who writes a Ph.D thesis saying that rabbits eat foxes (sometimes it's wolves). I've heard this joke a few times in maths circles but there's no maths content to it. Does anyone know the source/origins of this joke?
>
> Paul Epstein
>

OK. I think I found it.

Add "Freeman" to your google search parameters, and you will immediately
find

http://www.eecs.mit.edu/grad-areas/area2/pdfs/10minFreeman2012.pdf

(See slide 20/21.) Looks pretty clear that Leiserson wrote this,
although it is not stated that he actually invented the story.

peps...@gmail.com

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May 18, 2013, 8:16:41 PM5/18/13
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Thanks for the reference. After reading this pdf, I was surprised because, to me, nothing suggested that the joke originated with Leiserson.

So I emailed Leiserson and he replied that he heard the joke from someone else.

I heard the joke many times around 1989.

Paul Epstein

Peter Percival

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May 19, 2013, 7:32:26 AM5/19/13
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gus gassmann wrote:
> On 18/05/2013 5:32 AM, peps...@gmail.com wrote:
>> There's a joke (easily googlable) about a rabbit who writes a Ph.D
>> thesis saying that rabbits eat foxes (sometimes it's wolves). I've
>> heard this joke a few times in maths circles but there's no maths
>> content to it. Does anyone know the source/origins of this joke?
>>
>> Paul Epstein
>>
>
> OK. I think I found it.
>
> Add "Freeman" to your google search parameters, and you will immediately
> find
>
> http://www.eecs.mit.edu/grad-areas/area2/pdfs/10minFreeman2012.pdf

Wherein we read "rework your elevator pitch." What does that mean?

Bart Goddard

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May 19, 2013, 8:31:12 AM5/19/13
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Peter Percival <peterxp...@hotmail.com> wrote in news:knad8a$ser$1
@news.albasani.net:


> Wherein we read "rework your elevator pitch." What does that mean?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_pitch

Nicolas Bonneel

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May 19, 2013, 8:50:14 AM5/19/13
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On 5/19/2013 7:32 AM, Peter Percival wrote:
> gus gassmann wrote:
>> Add "Freeman" to your google search parameters, and you will immediately
>> find
>>
>> http://www.eecs.mit.edu/grad-areas/area2/pdfs/10minFreeman2012.pdf
>
> Wherein we read "rework your elevator pitch." What does that mean?

This is the 30 seconds presentation of yourself that should convince
Bill Gates to hire you if you met him in the elevator :)


--
Nicolas Bonneel
http://people.seas.harvard.edu/~nbonneel/
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