Scientists on Reddit

Edward Frenkel

Mathematician at UC Berkeley, author of Love and Math

u/EdwardFrenkel ↗AMA only
How we know it's theirs

The 2015 r/IAmA AMA, posted from this account

We retrieved 2 posts and 145 comments from u/EdwardFrenkel, all from 2015, most often in r/IAmA and r/berkeley.

Best moment

A redditor wrote in r/IAmA

On “I am Edward Frenkel, Mathematician and Author of "Love and Math" - AMA!”

My whole life I have heard that math is an inter-national/galactic language. So much so that there is some sort of mathematical message on our space probe. In laymen's terms - can you provide me with an example of this? The math 'problem' and the answer and how it translates?…

u/EdwardFrenkel replied

If Leo Tolstoy had not lived, we would have never known "Anna Karenina". There is no reason to believe that another author would have written that same novel. But if Pythagoras had not lived, someone else would have discovered exactly…

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If Leo Tolstoy had not lived, we would have never known "Anna Karenina". There is no reason to believe that another author would have written that same novel. But if Pythagoras had not lived, someone else would have discovered exactly the same Pythagoras theorem (in fact, it was discovered before he did it :) Moreover, this theorem means the same to us today as it meant to Pythagoras 2,500 years ago, and it will mean the same to anyone anywhere in the world a thousand years from now. If you think about, you see that there is something "strange" about mathematical knowledge.

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Explains thingsExplaining things to strangersr/IAmA · 4 points as of Nov 2026Full thread ↗

More moments

A redditor wrote in r/IAmA

On “IamA (Edward Frenkel, Mathematician and Author of "Love and Math") AMA!”

Hello Dr. Frenkel, big fan of your book! Do you have any advice for an aspiring mathematician just starting his undergraduate career?

u/EdwardFrenkel replied

People often get frustrated with math because they feel they "don't understand." But I say: good! Life would be so boring if we could understand everything easily. :) If anything, I should be worried about what I think I understand…

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People often get frustrated with math because they feel they "don't understand." But I say: good! Life would be so boring if we could understand everything easily. :) If anything, I should be worried about what I think I understand. 90% of the time, when I do mathematics, I do not understand, and this is what drives my passion for learning and discovery.

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