Solved cryptogram
Euler showed that no stroll can cross each of a certain town's seven bridges exactly once.
Mathematics Facts, sourced to MacTutor History of Mathematics.
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What it means
The town was Koenigsberg and the year was 1736. Euler's insight was that the map does not matter. Shrink each bank to a dot and each bridge to a line, and the only thing that counts is how many lines meet at each dot. Every dot you pass through needs one line in and one out, so a walk of this kind can afford at most two odd dots. Koenigsberg had four. The argument invented graph theory on the spot.
The claim comes from MacTutor History of Mathematics.
- SourceMacTutor History of Mathematics
- CollectionMathematics Facts
- Difficultymedium
- Length73 letters, 20 unique
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