Mathematicians Of The Day

13th June



On this day in 1771, Lagrange presented the first proof of Wilson's theorem to the Berlin Academy:-
A number p is prime if and only if 1+(p1)!1 + (p - 1)! is divisible by p.
Edward Waring published the theorem in 1770, but Leibniz knew it previously.

The postage stamp of one of today's mathematicians at THIS LINK was issued in 1991.

Click on for a poster.


Quotation of the day

From James Clerk Maxwell
... that, in a few years, all great physical constants will have been approximately estimated, and that the only occupation which will be left to men of science will be to carry these measurements to another place of decimals.
[Maxwell strongly disagreed with these views and was attacking them.]
Scientific Papers 2, 244, October 1871.