Ora Lassila on Erdös Numbers:
So far, I believe my own Erdös number is at most 6, given, for example, the following path: me, James Hendler, Lynn Stein, David Karger, Robert Tarjan, Stephen Hedetniemi, Paul Erdös. The real problem, I find, is that once you start pondering about path lengths, you cannot stop trying to find shorter ones. :-)
Since I’ve co-authored a (non-peer reviewed – does that matter?) position paper with Ora, I can report my Erdös number as 7. Unless I can find a shorter path…
This reminds me, I started a publications and talks page, after having a rummage to see what I’d been up to all these years. I should get it into a more structured form, so I can make a machine-friendly version. Suggestions for that gratefully received…
For what its worth, according to MathSciNet the Erdos number of James Hendler is 4 so yours is down to 6… (I couldnt find a trace of either you or Ora Lassila though…
Still, if your interested in the chain I did upload the Grab-file to
here.
I dont mean to brag about it, but my Erdos# is 3 (as is most mathematcians’).