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Tom Anderson wrote:
> On Tue, 31 Oct 2006, John Coleman wrote:
>
> > gmarkowsky@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
> >
> >> I just read a popular account of the beaking of the Enigma codes by
> >> Polish mathematicians. It talks about how Rajewski applied a well known
> >> theorem on permutations in his work, and this is often called "the
> >> theorem that won the war".
> >
> > I think calling any such thing "the theorem that won the war" is obvious
> > hyperbole.
>
> Oh, i don't know - if there's a theorem behind the T-34, it's got a fair
> claim to the title!
Eisenhower credited the jeep and the Higgins boats. Any math there?
(Although at the time he made the statement, cracking the Enigma was
still a deep secret).
There is also some "math" behind the US industrial capacity, which,
even when it produced an inferior product (such as Sherman tanks) did
so in such numbers that they just overwhelmed the enemy.
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