erdös number 1

You've showed me I'm not an addict. But I didn't get any work done. I'd get up in the morning and stare at a blank piece of paper. I'd have no ideas, just like an ordinary person.

You've set mathematics back a month.

paul erdös, one of the most famous (if not the most famous) mathematicians of the 20th century was known for his love of amphetamines to fuel his math binges.

erdös did not see it as an addiction, but his friends saw otherwise. a bet was placed that erdös could not forgo the use of drugs for a month so as to prove his addiction.

erdös handily won the bet, but lambasted his friends for setting mathematical progress back a month in such a stupid bet.