Prime simplicity (Q2268042): Difference between revisions
From MaRDI portal
Added link to MaRDI item. |
Set profile property. |
||
Property / MaRDI profile type | |||
Property / MaRDI profile type: MaRDI publication profile / rank | |||
Normal rank |
Revision as of 07:31, 5 March 2024
scientific article
Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
---|---|---|---|
English | Prime simplicity |
scientific article |
Statements
Prime simplicity (English)
0 references
10 March 2010
0 references
The authors study the different versions of Euclid's proof of the infinitude of primes given in more than 100 textbooks written in English. Some of the claims made in textbooks are almost entertaining: Euclid ``introduced factorials'' [\textit{C. M. Grinstead} and \textit{J. L. Snell}, Introduction to probability. 2nd rev. ed. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society (AMS) (1997; Zbl 0914.60004)] and used them to prove ``some quite useless facts about prime numbers'' [\textit{L. Hogben}, Mathematics for the million. London: George Allen \& Unwin (1937; JFM 63.0840.08)]. The ridiculous claim, however, that \textit{W. Narkiewicz} [The development of prime number theory. Springer Monographs in Mathematics. Berlin: Springer. (2000; Zbl 0942.11002)] called Euclid's proof ``fallacious'', since it only shows that lists of three primes can always be enlarged, is incorrect: Narkiewicz was talking about a gap in Euclid's proof of his lemma that primes dividing a product must divide one of the factors.
0 references
prime numbers
0 references