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Boris Gourévitch
The world of Pi - V2.57
modif. 13/04/2013

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Cette page en français This page in English

19982010moi
myself in 98, just before the website was created, then in 2010, holy crap !!
Hello !



Well, I really wanted to speak a little bit about myself and now, I'm completely uninspired... all theses web pages have an obvious topic whereas talking about myself is close to narcissism ;-) Thus, I'll make myself more comfortable by talking first about this crazy passion. Really ? yes, you have noticed that a small number has entered my mind a few years ago, haven't you ?
I promise that I won't trite remarks like "Pi is the most wonderful number in the world". The people fund of Pi - there are many of them across the world - will understand my connection with this trancendental and irrationnal number very easily. Yes, I really wanted to say so because I have to remind you that we're seen as a distinct specie which has just escaped from the mathematics asylum !

History of the website

The story began in november 96 when my best friend and I have found the algorithm of Archimedes by ourselves, and unexpectedly, while drawing polygons into a cricle (that rings a bell doesn't it ?). Afterwards, we have constructed a small sum giving Pi and have decided that it would be fun to track all the sums and algorithms giving Pi... (of course it's an infinite set...).
Together then alone, a 300-page archive was achieved in june 97. I used it for several presentations as an undergraduate. Pi can be useful, absolutely !

Of course, I had to let it go a little bit during the following years in order to pass many exams but my passion for Pi never vanished. When I enter the ENSAI (a school in statistics), I enjoyed Internet at home for the first time in my life and the idea to create a website came naturally. At that time, rerouces about Pi were rare moreover, I really had to do something on my own means...

I worked the whole year 1999 on this website (hum, well, in my school too) and I really hope you'll enjoy it (i know, it sounds as a cliche but I really hope so). There are likely numerous mistakes in maths but it is not my job so be tolerant and let me know by sending an email.

Tinybio

Well, aside from that, I was born July, 19th 1979 and to be honest, my childhood was pretty quiet (maybe too much) hidden in the countryside near Orleans (the old one). Because I was younger than my fellows during my whole scolarity, I often had a tough time with boys... and no success with girls. Thus, I had my temper at this time but I'm more quiet now.

My parents - thanks to them - soon told me that I really should enter a "classe prépa" (intensive classroom for engineer schools) because the baccalaureat leads to nothing nowadays. I'm 17 and my life has changed ! After two years of neurons-burning, I succeeded in the competition to enter the ENSAI (a school in statistics) whose building really has a beautiful architecture ! It was in britany near Rennes where I finally stayed 7 years... Indeed, I discovered biological research during a summer internship and finally commited to a PhD at the LTSI (Rennes) in the auditory domain. I wasn't good enough to do research in maths but it is finally even better, I really have the feeling to be useful as a statistician playing with biological data. This is still about numbers, they're just show up from the auditory cortex activity !

I finally defended my thesis on march 4th, 2005... A beautiful day. All my beloved relatives and friends were present. Yet, it was time to think about the future. In order to get a research position in France, you really have to make a post-doctorate abroad. I found a lab in Calgary, Canada (Eggermont's lab) where I really enojyed these two years. Two more years in Orsay (France) to fill the CV and finally, yessss, I got a job at the CNRS as a neuroscientist !!!! I'm not alone in this adventure (thanks to my dear Alexandra). And I promise I won't betray my friend Pi despite of these new responsabilities.

Happy memories

Just for the fun I had in my appartment in "classe prépa" (it's deep in my heart), I could not resist to put a picture of it... ok, I was some kind of nerd at that time (formulas, girls and a picture of Ramanujan, ahh youthness...) but that really was fun at least.
A thought for my eternal companion, which passed away on august 2nd, 2004.
Her name was TwoPi (of course) and I can still hear her screaming and asking for salad.

In any case, do not hesitate to send me an email if you have remarks/comments about the website (even if you don't), it's always appreciated ... and allows for the website to improve constantly ! moreover, i will be pleased to meet other fans of Pi, come under the lights, don't hide, I know you exist !N'hésitez pas à m'envoyer un petit mail si vous avez des remarques sur le site (même si vous n'en avez pas!), cela fait toujours infiniment plaisir... et permet la constante amélioration de ces pages web ! Je serais de plus très heureux de faire la connaissance d'autres passionnés de Pi... (oui, car je sais qu'il en existe beaucoup, ne vous cachez pas !)
Also, if you know anything about Pi (formula, proof, anecdote) which is not on this website, please let me know !


boris@pi314.net