From an article about Nuno Loureiro, plasma physicist ("Slain M.I.T. Professor Was a ‘Brilliant Scientist’ and a Beloved Colleague"):

Steven Cowley, the director of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and a longtime friend and colleague of Dr. Loureiro, said that his friend had managed to solve a “50-year mystery” while still in his 20s, yet maintained a sense of humor and never thought too highly of himself.

“He would raise an eyebrow and look at you, and there would be a sense of irony,” said Dr. Cowley. “He had an eye for the absurd, and absolutely no pomposity. When he saw it in others, he thought it was funny.”

... and:

In explaining his job to his daughters when they were young, he said he spent his days “fighting numbers,” his family recalled in a obituary shared with The New York Times.

When his daughter asked, “how many numbers did you fight today?” he often replied: “Not as many as I would have liked.”

... and in Toki Pona, perhaps:

pali mi li utala e nanpa
tenpo suno ni la sina utala e nanpa mute seme
mi wile la mi utala e mute

toki pona	loose translation
pali mi li utala e nanpa	my work is to fight numbers
tenpo suno ni la sina utala e nanpa mute seme	today, how many numbers did you fight?
mi wile la mi utala e mute	i wish i had fought more

_{(cf Hannes Alfven (2004-10-16), ...) - ^z - 2025-12-20}