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Revision as of 05:24, 21 July 2006
Eliyahu Rips is an Israeli-Latvian mathematician known for his research in algebra and the controversial Bible codes.
Rips grew up in Latvia (then part of Soviet Union). He was the first high school student from Latvia to participate in the International Mathematical Olympiad. In 1969, Rips (who was a student at the University of Latvia at that time) attempted self-immolation in a protest against Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. After that, he was incarcerated by Soviet government but, under a pressure from Western mathematicians, he was allowed to emigrate to Israel in 1972.
After recovering from his wounds and finishing his Ph.D., Rips joined the Department of Mathematics at Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He became well known for his research in group theory. Rips received the Erdős prize from the Israel Mathematical Society in 1979 and was a sectional speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 1994.
In 1994, Rips, together with Doron Witztum and Yoav Rosenberg, published an article in the journal Statistical Science which claimed that they have discovered encoded messages in the Hebrew text of the book of Genesis, a part of Bible. In 1997, their discovery was then described in a popular book The Bible Code by journalist Michael Drosnin. Since then, Bible codes have been a subject of much controversy. The Journal eventually publuished a complete refutation. Other scientists have been mostly skeptical and have pointed out what they consider as flaws in the study by Rips and his colleagues.
External links
Examples of mathematical scientists who criticize the claims of Rips:
- "Scientific Refutation of the Bible Codes" by Brendan McKay (Computer Science, Australian National University) and others
- Bible Code page from Dror Bar-Natan (Mathematics, University of Toronto)
- The Bible Code: A Book Review by Allyn Jackson, Notices of the AMS September 1997, which ascribes the Statistical Science paper mentioned in the article to "sloppy refereeing and poor editorial policy", followed by Comments on the Bible Code by Shlomo Sternberg, who calls this paper a "hoax"
- On the Witztum-Rips-Rosenberg Sample of Nations, by Dror Bar-Natan, Brendan McKay, and Shlomo Sternberg
- THE BIBLE CODE from Ralph Greenberg (Mathematics, University of Washington)
Mass media coverage of the claims of Rips:
- The Bible Code, transcript of a story which aired on BBC Two, Thursday 20 November 2003, featuring comments by Drosnin, Rips, and McKay.