Una historia increíble, locuras de los(as) matemáticos(as)

Por 200 y más años se pensó que el anterior número, era primo. Fue F. N. Cole quien probó lo contrario, en una reunión de la American Mathematical Society en 1903; y lo que hizo, cuando le tocó su turno de palabra, según cuenta F. Temple Bell, fue lo siguiente: Cole -que era siempre un hombre de pocas palbras- se acercó a la pizarra y desarrolló el cálculo para elevar 2 a la 67 potencia. Luego, cuidadosamente le restó 1.

Sin una palabra, fue hacia una zona vacía de la pizarra y multiplicó a mano: 193.707.721 por 761.838.257.287.

Los dos resultados coincidieron ... Por primera y única vez, que se recuerde, la audiencia de la American Mathematical Society aplaudió vigorosamente al autor de una conferencia..

Cole volvió a su puesto sin haber pronunciado una palabra. Nadie le dirigió una pregunta.

Tomado de WIKIPEDIA:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Frank Nelson Cole
Born	September 20, 1861 Ashland, Massachusetts
Died	May 26, 1926 (aged 64) New York City
Fields	Mathematics
Institutions	Harvard University University of Michigan Columbia University American Mathematical Society
Doctoral advisor	Felix Klein

Frank Nelson Cole, Ph.D. (September 20, 1861 – May 26, 1926) was an American mathematician, born in Ashland, Massachusetts, and educated at Harvard, where he lectured on mathematics from 1885 to 1887.

Later, he was employed at the University of Michigan and Columbia University. Professor Cole became secretary of the American Mathematical Society in 1895 and an editor of its Bulletin in 1897.

Cole published a number of important papers, including The Diurnal Variation of Barometric Pressure (1892).

In 1903 Cole famously made a presentation to a meeting of the American Mathematical Society where he identified the factors of the Mersenne number 2⁶⁷-1, or M67. Edouard Lucas had demonstrated in 1876 that M67 must have factors (i.e., is not prime), however he was unable to determine what those factors were. During Cole's so-called "lecture", he approached the chalkboard and in complete silence proceeded to calculate the value of M67, with the result being 147,573,952,589,676,412,927. Cole then moved to the other side of the board and wrote 193,707,721 x 761,838,257,287, and worked through the tedious calculations by hand. Upon completing the multiplication and demonstrating that the result equalled M67, Cole returned to his seat, not having uttered a word during the hour-long presentation. His audience greeted the presentation with a standing ovation. Cole later admitted that finding the factors had taken "three years of Sundays".^[1]

Cole died in New York City, aged 64. The American Mathematical Society's Cole Prize was named in his honor.