self-doubt, intransigent, all-or-nothing, overpromising

Harvard geometer and Fields medalist Shing-Tung Yau has provided a mathematical foundation for string theory, offered new insights into black holes, and mathematically demonstrated the stability of our universe. In this autobiography, Yau reflects on his improbable journey to becoming one of the world’s most distinguished mathematicians. Beginning with an impoverished childhood in China and Hong Kong, Yau takes readers through his doctoral studies at Berkeley during the height of the Vietnam War protests, his Fields Medal–winning proof of the Calabi conjecture, his return to China, and his pioneering work in geometric analysis. This new branch of geometry, which Yau built up with his friends and colleagues, has paved the way for solutions to several important and previously intransigent problems. With complicated ideas explained for a broad audience, this book offers readers not only insights into the life of an eminent mathematician, but also an accessible way to understand advanced and highly abstract concepts in mathematics and theoretical physics.



 Tata's Exuberance Fizzles

Tata Motors promises something for everyone. But overpromising can lead to under-delivering.

Copenhagen is all or nothing, says de Boer

The head of the United Nations climate secretariat tells Deutsche Welle
that the upcoming summit in the Danish capital has to be a success.

The DW-WORLD Article
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=ew2s3fI44va89pI0

California, Almost Broke, Nears Brink 
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
Its deficits ballooning and its lawmakers intransigent, California appears to be headed off the fiscal rails.

Taiwan's Health and Safety
New York Times - United States
Imagine if swine flu broke out in Taiwan, rather than Mexico. Excluded from the World Health Organization by the intransigent policies of mainland China, ...

intransigent
adjective FORMAL
refusing to be persuaded, especially refusing to change opinions that are strongly believed in:
Unions claim that the management continues to maintain an intransigent position.

intransigently 
adverb FORMAL

intransigence
noun [U] FORMAL
in·tran·si·gent in·tran·si·geant (ĭn-trăn'sə-jənt, -zə-) 

adj.
Refusing to moderate a position, especially an extreme position; uncompromising.

[French intransigeant, from Spanish intransigente : in-, not (from Latin; see in-¹) + transigente, present participle of transigir, to compromise (from Latin trānsigere, to come to an agreement : trāns-, trans- + agere, to drive).]

intransigence in·tran'si·gence or in·tran'si·gen·cy n.
intransigent in·tran'si·gent n.
intransigently in·tran'si·gent·ly adv.

 in・tran・si・gent

  
━━ a., n. 妥協しない（人）.
 in・tran・si・gence, in・tran・si・gen・cy　━━ n.
 in・tran・si・gent・ly　━━ ad.


all-or-noth·ing (ôl'ər-nŭth'ĭng)
adj.

1. Involving either complete success or failure, with no intermediate result: "Downhill races are all-or-nothing events, decided on the basis of one run" (Neil Amdur).
2. Refusing to accept less than all demands; uncompromising: an all-or-nothing negotiating position.

self-doubt
n.
A lack of faith or confidence in oneself.

self-doubting self'-doubt'ing adj.