Pál Erdős, one of the most prolific mathematicians and producers of mathematical conjectures of the 20th century, who posed and solved thorny problems in number theory and founded the field of discrete mathematics, which is the foundation of computer science.

Instead of hoarding his ideas, Dr. Erdős shared them with all comers. Indeed, as many as half a dozen mathematicians would sometimes gather to wrestle with Erdős’ provocative notions about integers, whole numbers and primes–furiously scribbling complex proofs as the old man flitted among them, imparting astonishingly acute insights in wholesale lots. And, Erdős–Rényi model refers to models for generating random graphs or the evolution of a random network, which later became the foundation of Network Science. Dr. Erdos, like many mathematicians, believed that mathematical truths are discovered, not invented.

In over six decades of furious activity, he wrote fundamental papers on number theory, real analysis, geometry, probability theory, complex analysis, approximation theory, set theory and combinatorics and personally stimulated mathematicians the world over. He showed that simply stated problems often lead to exciting phenomena, and left behind hundreds of exciting problems whose solutions will influence combinatorics for years to come.

Dr. Ernst Straus, who worked with both Albert Einstein and Dr. Erdős, wrote a tribute to Dr. Erdős shortly before his own death in 1983. He said of Dr. Erdős: ”In our century, in which mathematics is so strongly dominated by ‘theory doctors,’ he has remained the prince of problem solvers and the absolute monarch of problem posers.” Other mathematicians simply solved problems; Erdős solved problems and pushed at least four generations to dig deeper into the mysterious nature of numbers