Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
Mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
and
scientist
A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences.
In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...
He was born in November 18 1956 in
Ä°stanbul
Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population over , it is home to 18% of the population of Turkey. Istanbul is among the largest cities in Europe and in th ...
. His father is the well known writer
Aziz Nesin
Aziz Nesin (; born Mehmet Nusret, 20 December 1915, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire – 6 July 1995, Izmir , Turkey) was a Turkish writer, humorist and the author of more than 100 books. Born in a time when Turks did not have official surnames, ...
Collège Champittet
Collège Champittet is a Swiss school in the canton de Vaud operated by Nord Anglia Education, a group of 82 schools around the world. The school offers an academic education for students ages 3–19 and has two campuses: the main one is located ...
Paris Diderot University
Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 1970. Paris Diderot merged with Pari ...
in maths. Later on, he got his doctorate in
mathematical logic
Mathematical logic is the study of Logic#Formal logic, formal logic within mathematics. Major subareas include model theory, proof theory, set theory, and recursion theory (also known as computability theory). Research in mathematical logic com ...
and
algebra
Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic ope ...
in
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
. He worked in
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
as a teacher in the years 1985 - 1986. During the time he was in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
for
military service
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Few nations, such ...
-which is mandatory for every man in Turkey- He was arrested and tried for "inciting the army to rebellion" because he objected to the vaccination of privates from the same syringe. He was acquitted at the end of the trial.
He was an assistant professor at the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...
from 1987 to 1989, then associate professor and later professor at the University of California Irvine Campus until 1995. He spent the 1993-1994 academic year at
Bilkent University
Bilkent University () is a private non-profit research university located in Ankara, Turkey. It was founded by İhsan Doğramacı, the first president of the Council of Higher Education and the head of the prominent Doğramacı family, with th ...
as a visiting lecturer. Upon the death of his father,
Aziz Nesin
Aziz Nesin (; born Mehmet Nusret, 20 December 1915, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire – 6 July 1995, Izmir , Turkey) was a Turkish writer, humorist and the author of more than 100 books. Born in a time when Turks did not have official surnames, ...
, in 1995, he returned to his home country for good and became the leader of the Nesin Foundation.
He was the Head of the Department of Mathematics at
Istanbul Bilgi University
Istanbul Bilgi University () is a private university founded in 1996, located in Eyüpsultan, Istanbul, Turkey. The university has four campuses in Istanbul: SantralIstanbul, Kuştepe, Dolapdere, and Kozyatağı.
History
The university was ...
from 1996 to 2022. As of 2022, he became the Head of the Department of Mathematics at Ä°stinye University. Ali Nesin has four children. He has been the general director of Nesin Publishing House since November 2004 and has been a member of the advisory board of the Hrant Dink Foundation since 2011.
Ali Nesin's popular math books Mathematics and Fear, Mathematics and Nature, Mathematics and Infinity, Mathematics and Games, Mathematics and Camels and Donkeys, Monster of Mathematics and Mathematics and Truth, as well as semi-academic mathematics books such as Propositional Logic, Counting and Naive Set Theory, and There are Analysis books consisting of four volumes. In addition to these, he has scientific articles published in various journals, an English book he wrote with Alexandre Borovik ( Groups of Finite Morley Rank), and translations from the Ottoman manuscripts of his father Aziz Nesin.
Ali Nesin's correspondence with his father
Aziz Nesin
Aziz Nesin (; born Mehmet Nusret, 20 December 1915, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire – 6 July 1995, Izmir , Turkey) was a Turkish writer, humorist and the author of more than 100 books. Born in a time when Turks did not have official surnames, ...
set theory
Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies Set (mathematics), sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory – as a branch of mathema ...
and analysis accepted by the
Turkish Academy of Sciences
The Turkish Academy of Sciences ( – TÜBA) is an autonomous scholarly association aimed at promoting scientific activities in Turkey. Although it is attached to the office of the Presidency and is largely funded by the government, it maintains f ...
.
In addition to mathematics research. department chair and Nesin Foundation, he also works on
oil painting
Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...
,
drawing
Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...
and
portraiture
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better re ...
. He is a founding member of the Turkish Human Rights Institution Foundation. He is the founder of Nesin Mathematics Village and a member of the Academy of Sciences.
Nesin was awarded the four-yearly
Leelavati Award The Leelavati Award is an award for outstanding contribution to public outreach in mathematics. It is named after the 12th-century mathematical treatise " Lilavati" devoted to arithmetic, algebra, and the decimal system written by the Indian mathema ...
by the
International Congress of Mathematicians
The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU).
The Fields Medals, the IMU Abacus Medal (known before ...
in August 2018.
His Political Views
Ali Nesin voted yes to the
2010 Turkish constitutional referendum
A constitutional referendum on a number of changes to the constitution was held in Turkey on 12 September 2010. The results showed the majority supported the constitutional amendments, with 58% in favour and 42% against.
His personal life
He is married to Özlem Beyarslan and has four children.