Goldbach's Conjecture
May 17, 1742
In a letter to Euler, the Prussian mathematician Christian Goldbach conjectured that every even number greater than two was the sum of two primes. Euler refined it. Neither could prove it. Three centuries later, despite trillions of computer checks and partial proofs, the conjecture remains unresolved, a beautiful unfinished line across mathematics.
In context
Also in 1742 (3 other events on record)
- Handel's Messiah Premieres in Dublin · Europe · Culture
- Celsius Proposes His Temperature Scale · Europe · Science
- Fall of Walpole · Europe · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Science
Era
Enlightenment (1651–1800), one of 696 events from that era on Saeculum.