1640 in Science - Mathematics

Mathematics

  • The 16-year old Blaise Pascal demonstrates the properties of the hexagrammum mysticum in his Essai pour les coniques which he sends to Mersenne.
  • October 18 - Fermat states his "little theorem" in a letter to Frénicle de Bessy: if p is a prime number, then for any integer a, a pa will be evenly divisible by p.
  • December 25 - Fermat claims a proof of the theorem on sums of two squares in a letter to Mersenne ("Fermat's Christmas Theorem"): an odd prime p is expressible as the sum of two squares.

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    It is a monstrous thing to force a child to learn Latin or Greek or mathematics on the ground that they are an indispensable gymnastic for the mental powers. It would be monstrous even if it were true.
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