Description

Quantamagazine explore the fascinating history and significance of the four-color theorem in this article. They discuss the failed attempts to prove it, including Kempe's flawed proof, and how Heawood showed that Kempe's technique could be used to prove that every map can be colored with five or fewer colors. They also highlight Heawood's work on maps drawn on more complicated surfaces, which led to the discovery of God's number.