Fallacy
Liner notes
It’s a sign of stature in the maths community that people send you 'proofs' that π is rational or that there’s an easy solution to the Riemann Hypothesis. It’s still very annoying. This was written for MathsJam Jam 2019.Hear me sigh, at what the author’s written down
Stating pi is algebraic, what a clown
Then I shout “I can’t see why he’s put this out
For peer review, peer review when it isn’t true, isn’t true...”
Fallacy! When a proof feels strong but there’s something wrong
Fallacy! There’s a bad-divide or you’ve squared both sides
It’s there somewhere
Without better logic, can’t have that black square
Curse the day I ever saw this manuscript
His writing style’s a total nightmare to decrypt*I realise, to my shame, that I reused this rhyme in The Mathematical Villain.
And like a troll’s, his argument is full of holes
He thinks that he’s found something new, something new
But it isn’t true, isn’t true
Fallacy! With solutions missed or they don’t exist
Fallacy! Dealt wishfully with infinity
It’s there somewhere with no-one to spot it you’re going nowhere
Fallacy! When a proof feels strong but there’s something wrong
Fallacy! There’s a bad-divide or you’ve squared both sides
It’s there somewhere
Without better logic, can’t have that black square