November 3 has been a holiday for Hungarian science since 2003: on this day in 1825, Count István Széchenyi offered one year’s income from his estate to found the Hungarian Society of Scientists. November 3 is a day of outstanding importance in the history of Hungarian science in two respects. In addition to the presentation of István Széchenyi in 1825, this year we also celebrate the bicentenary of the famous letter by János Bolyai sent from Timisoara. In 1823, the 21-year-old mathematical genius wrote on this day to his father, also a mathematician, Farkas Bolyai: “I have created a new and different world from nothing.” 3-5 November 2023 A large-scale festival of arts and sciences entitled Bolyai 200 was organized in Timisoara, the cultural capital of Europe, where distinguished invited speakers presented the comprehensive work of the people of Bolya beyond mathematics, from horticulture to winemaking, from forestry to kiln building, from literature to… Music theory. The organizers of the three-day Bolyai Festival also thought of addressing young people: six student teams from Transylvania, Partium, Pansag and the Southern Region took part in creative workshops and congress presentations, so that they could finally introduce to their age group the scientific work and human greatness of János Bolyai.
On 3 November, on the 200th anniversary of the famous Temesvar Letter, participants of the Bolyai Festival laid a wreath on the bust of Janos Bolyai in the inner courtyard of Nyugati University, the work of the sculptor Artur Vetro, and the museum. Bolyai-lelev in five languages (Hungarian, Romanian, German, Serbian) in the center of Bolyai Utca and English) A memorial plaque, with a relief portrait of the mathematician, created by the sculptor Peter Gekza. Those interested then had the opportunity to watch the monodrama A tér directed by István Kocsis, performed by Sebestyén Aba, an artist from Marosvásárhely.
The Bolyai 200 Festival of Arts and Sciences was inaugurated at the Új Ezredév Református Központ Church in Temesvár, with the professor on behalf of the organizing institutions. Dennis Nagy (President of the International Symmetry Society), A. Levente Kovacs (Ubuda University, Rector), Prof. László Nagy, Academician (Chairman of the Academic Committee of Cluj), Professor Eneko Petai, Academician (Transylvanian Museum Association, Chairman), Dr. Ildiko Erdi (Bela Bartok Foundation, Managing Director) and Prof. Tamas Nagy-Gyorgy (Chairman of the KAB Bánsági Regional Working Group) gave honorary speeches. Within the framework of the scientific sessions held in the same place on November 4 and 5, exciting presentations were given on the topics of science and art, joint and interdisciplinary research, the memory of the Pulyai people, scientific and artistic workshops and exhibitions. Book presentations, reading performances, and an organ and violin concert were held. Regarding the objectives and benefits of the 200th Bolyai Festival, the professor said. Tamas Nagy-Gyorgy, one of the main organizers of the three-day series of events, told Nyogati Gylen:
“During the Festival of Arts and Sciences, we wanted to show the diversity and wide-ranging knowledge of the people of Puglia, and to be an example to today’s world that you can deal with many things, and you must deal with many things, with arts and sciences, there is no dividing line, on the contrary, there A close relationship between the two. The example of Bolyak shows that there can be cooperation between the arts and sciences. Each of the speakers brought his own image of Bolyak, his point of view, and the beautiful thing is that it was illuminated from many directions. No one was primarily interested in mathematics, which is inevitable Of course, but everyone has their own idea of Bolyai, and these ideas can conflict.” During the Bolyai 200 festival, there was talk about how to move forward and commitments were also made. “On 3 November every year, we organize a round table in Cluj-Napoca, Marosvasareli or Timisoara. A suggestion has been made that it would be a good idea to use artificial intelligence to address approx. 20,000 pages of Bolyai legacy. Artificial intelligence would greatly facilitate research, since without a wide range of knowledge, from a linguistic and mathematical point of view, one would also have to understand texts written in 3-4 languages and interpret abbreviations. “The third proposal is the need to restore the dilapidated Bolyai Castle located in Puglia in Sipan Province,” the professor said. Tamas Nagy-Gyorgy. At the conclusion of the three-day Bolyai Festival, Dr. said: By Ferenc Sinković (Babčić-Bolyai University), perhaps Arad can be included in the list of cities organizing the Bolyai Round Tables, as “Arad may have really developed what he imagined in Timisoara and put it in its final form there.” Regarding this proposal, Prof. Tamas Nagy-Gyorgy said that he could only help organize the round tables, that they would be open to anyone who wanted to deal with Bolyai, and that he would do so efficiently. On the closing day of the festival, two teams from Boljai Farkas High School in Marosvasareli, Gabor Bethlen College in Nagined, Gergeli Czeki High School in Arad, Béla Bartok High School in Temesvár, and János Boljai Talent Development High School in Zenta were honoured. It shows the wide-ranging work and greatness of János Bolyai from a Generation Z perspective.
