Paul Erdös was another world-famous mathematician who was a passionate atheist. Erdös always referred to God as SF, short for Supreme Fascist. Erdös had for many years successfully outwitted the dictators of Italy, Germany, and Hungary, moving from country to country to escape from their clutches. He called his God SF because he imagined God to be a fascist dictator like Mussolini, powerful and brutal but rather slow-witted. Erdös was able to outwit SF by moving frequently from one place to another and never allowing his activities to fall into a predictable pattern. SF, like the other dictators, was too stupid to understand Erdös’s mathematics. Hardy and Erdös were both lovable characters, contributing more than their fair share to the human comedy.

[[Quelle: NYRB 11/06*]

* Mittlerweile ist der Artikel im kostenpflichtigen Archiv der NYRB.