please finish mckinley by next month.
i'm hoping that one of you might prove it by the end of the semester. the first person to do so will not only be in my good graces, but go on to fame and fortune by having their accomplishment recorded and their name printed in the auspicious "m.i.t. tech."
former winners include nobel laureates, world renowned astro- physicists, field's medal winners and lowly m.i.t. professors.
okay. that is all.
yes.
it's saturday.
find out what?
this is correct? who did this?
nemesh?
well, whoever you are, i'm sure you'll find this one challenging enough to merit coming forward with your identity. that is, if you can do it.
is it my imagination, or has my class grown considerably?
i look around and see young people who are my students, young people who are not my students as well as some of my colleagues. and by no stretch of my imagination do i think you've all come to hear me lecture.
but rather to ascertain the identity of who our esteemed "the tech" has come to call "the mystery math magician."
whoever you are, you've solved four of the most difficult theorems i've ever given a class. so without further ado, come forward silent rogue, and receive thy prize.
well, i'm sorry to disappoint my spectators, but it appears there will be no unmasking here today. i'm going to have to ask those of you not enrolled in the class to make your escape now or, for the next three hours be subjected to the mundities of eigenvectors.
however, my colleagues and i have conferred. there is a problem on the board, right now, that took us two years to prove. so let this be said; the gauntlet has been thrown down. but the faculty have answered the challenge and answered with vigor.
excuse me!
what're you doing?
what's your name? don't you walk away from me. this is people's work, you can't graffiti here.
well.  i'll be speaking to your supervisor.
my god.
excuse me. is this the buildings and grounds office?
i'm trying to find the name of a student who works here.
could you just check, because the young man who works in my building--
building two.
no, no. nothing like that. i just need his name.
please, i'm a professor here and it's very important.
excuse me, your honor. gerald lambeau.
i'm a professor at m.i.t. combunatorial mathematics.
do you have a minute?
hello. gerald lambeau, m.i.t.
i've spoken with the judge and he's agreed to release you under my supervision.
yes. under two conditions.
that you meet with me twice a week and you meet with a therapist.
that's right.
now, it won't be as bad as it sounds, will. i've already spoken to one therapist, his name is henry lipkin and he's a friend of mine. he's also published four books and is widely considered to be one of the brightest men in his field. i'm sure it'll be better than spending the next six months in jail.
henry?
what happened?
wait a minute, henry.
this rectangle is subdivided into rectangles. one edge of an inner rectangle is an integer. can you prove that one edge of the larger rectangle is an integer?
okay. how?
that would be a monumental waste of time, wouldn't it, will?
i happen to know so.
you're thinking too hard. what if i did this?
now, what if i do this?
have you ever played checkers?
what's that?
--that?--
--that edge!
it would appear we got that proof in under the wire after all. it's not how hard you look at things, young man, it's the way you look at them. if you take aim before you fire, you will find the most difficult problems become, quite literally, child's play.
will, you've managed to offend four of my colleagues so much that they refused to come back. you're meeting with the leading hypnotist in the country next week and tom and i plan to sit in on the sessions, so i expect you to behave appropriately.
shall we start the, uh.
oh jesus.
wait a minute, barry.
oh, for god's sake, will.
i told you to cooperate with these people.
get out, will.
that's enough.
what's the point?
there is somebody.
he was my roommate in college.
sean.
hello.
good to see you.
is there someplace we can talk?
i didn't see you at the reunion.
you were missed. how long has it been since we've seen each other?
i'm sorry, that damn conference--
this kid's special, sean. i've never seen anything like him.
have you ever heard of a man named ramanujan?
he was alive over a hundred years ago. he was indian. dots, not feathers.
so this ramanujan lived in a tiny hut in india. no formal education, no access to other works. but he came across an old math book and from this basic text he was able to extrapolate theories that had baffled mathematicians for years.
that's right, sean. he mailed it to a professor at cambridge who immediately recognized the brilliance in his work and brought ramanujan to england.
they worked together for the remainder of their lives, producing some of the most exciting math theory ever done. ramanujan's genius was unparalleled, sean. this boy is like that. but he's very defensive and i need someone who can get through to him.
i need someone with your kind of background.
you're from the same neighborhood. south boston.
five.
just meet with the boy once a week.
that would be fine.
sean, please.
it's on the college.
any vulnerability he senses, he'll exploit.
it's a poker game with this young man. don't let him see what you've got.
hello, will. any trouble finding the place?
will, this is sean maguire. sean, will hunting.
well, let's get started.
tom.
five minutes, sean. are you okay?
i'll understand if you don't want to meet with him again.
what do you mean "he didn't talk?" you sat there for an hour?
why would he do that?
oh, what is this? some kind of staring contest between two kids from the "old neighborhood?"
alexander, i know your theory. the boy is updating, he's strategy stealing.
--but what he's doing, he's attaching an edge to the adjacent vertex. he can always failsafe to either side--
no, there's a limit.
maker builds "k" to the "n." n is three to the k times--
alexander, your theory is changed.
we're still working together, the boy's a little rough.
was i exaggerating in nineteen eighty- four when i told you i'd win the field's medal within two years?
at ease, gentlemen. we're looking carefully at all our options.
not at all.
pleasure to meet you.
you're here quite a bit, then.
you moved?
seems like it's going well.
well, have you talked to him at all about his future?
maybe you should. my phone's been ringing off the hook with job offers.
cutting edge mathematics. think tanks. the kind of place where a mind like will's is given free reign.
sean, i really don't think you understand--
excuse me, timmy. could you help us? we're trying to settle a bet.
have you heard of jonas salk?
you've heard of albert einstein?
how about gerald lambeau? ever heard of him?
okay thank you, timmy.
i did.
this isn't about me. i'm nothing compared to this young man. sean, in 1905 there were hundreds of professors who were renowned for their study of the universe. but it was a 26-year-old swiss patent clerk, doing physics in his spare time, who changed the world, sean. can you imagine if einstein had given that up? or gotten drunk with his buddies in vienna every night? all of us would have lost something. and i'm quite sure timmy never would have heard of him.
no, sean. this boy has that gift. he just hasn't got the direction. we can give that to him.
who?
you see, sean? that's exactly not the point. no one remembers that. they--
well, you're the only one.
this boy can make contributions to the world. we can help him do that.
look, i don't know what else i can say. i'm not sitting at home every night, twisting my mustache and hatching a plan to ruin the boy's life. but it's important to start early. i was doing advanced mathematics at eighteen and it still took me twenty-three years to do something worthy of a field's medal.
sean, this is important. and it's above personal rivalry--
no, no you hear me out, sean. this young man is a true prodigy--
look, you took one road and i took another. that's fine.
that's a wonderful theory, sean. it worked wonders for you.
sean, i came here today out of courtesy. i wanted to keep you in the loop. as we speak the boy is in a meeting i set up for him over at tri-tech.
this is correct. i see you used mclullen here--
--this can't be right. this is going to be very embarrassing. have you ever considered--
that's fine, but did you ever think--
will, what happened at the tri-tech meeting?
will, on your own time, you can do what you like. when i set up a meeting, with my associates, and you don't show up it reflects poorly on me.
i'll cancel every meeting right now. i'll give you a job myself. i just wanted you to see what was out there.
the least you can do is show me a little appreciation.
sure, then you'd have more time to sit around and get drunk. think of how many fights you could have been in by now.
you're right, will. i can't do that proof and you can. and when it comes to this there are only twenty people in the world that can tell the difference between you and me. but i'm one of them.
so am i. yes. that's right, will. most days i wish i never met you. because then i could sleep at night. i wouldn't have to walk around with the knowledge that someone like you was out there. and i wouldn't have to watch you throw it all away.
i can.  i'm almost there.
what are you smiling at?
no.
i've got the first part. the rest i can do at home.
will, the n.s.a. has been calling me just about every hour. they're very excited about how the meeting went.
what i mean, sean, is that i'm sitting in your office and the boy isn't here. well, it's ten past three. an hour and ten minutes late. well, if he doesn't show up and i have to file a report saying he wasn't here and he goes back to jail, it won't be on my conscience, sean. fine.
the boy was here. he came in, sat down and we worked together.
he came in, sat down, and we worked together.
this is a disaster! i brought you in here to help me with this boy, not to run him out--
--and confuse him--
and here i am for the second week in a row with my professional reputation at stake--
ready to falsify documents because you've given him license to walk away from this.
look sean, i don't care if you have a rapport with the boy -- i don't care if you have a few laughs -- even at my expense! but don't you dare undermine what i'm trying to do here.
he has a gift and with that gift comes responsibility. and you don't understand that he's at a fragile point--
what problems does he have, sean, that he is better off as a janitor or in jail or hanging around with--
he can handle the work, he can handle the pressure and he's obviously handled you.
oh, come on, sean--
oh, that's nice--
now don't do that. don't you do that! don't infect him with the idea that it's okay to quit. that it's okay to be a failure, because it's not okay! if you're angry at me for being successful, for being what you could have been--
yes you are, sean. you resent me. and i'm not going to apologize for any success that i've had.
yes you do. you're angry at me for doing what you could have done. ask yourself if you want will to feel that way for the rest of his life, to feel like a failure.
is that what this is about, sean? the field's medal? do you want me to go home and get it for you? then will you let the boy--
that's right! you were smarter than us then and you're smarter than us now! so don't blame me for how your life turned out. it's not my fault.
he won't be a failure!
you're wrong, sean. i'm where i am today because i was pushed. and because i learned to push myself!
no, that's fine, will. i was just leaving.
will.
you know, you're no longer required to come here.
sam called me. from tri-tech. he says you start working for them next week.
well, that's, i think that's terrific. congratulations.
i just want you to know.  it's been a pleasure.
this job.  do it if it's what you really want.
yes.
thank you, will. i'll do that.
hello, sean.
sean.
so i hear you're taking some time.
where're you going?
why there?
do you know when you'll be back?
i got one of those too.
sean.
the drinks at those things are free.
how about one now?
sean, do you have any idea what the odds are against winning the lottery?
about thirty million to one.
about thirty million to one.