The Whitney trick (Q1924677)

\textit{H. Whitney} [Ann. Math. (2) 45, 220--246 (1944; Zbl 0063.08237)] has proved the theorem that an \(n\)-manifold can be embedded into the \(2n\)-Euclidean space. The key step in his proof is a theorem on the reduction of the number of self-intersections by two if \(n\geq 3\). He also posed the question for \(n=2\), which has been answered negatively by \textit{M. A. Kervaire} and \textit{J. W. Milnor} [Prof. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 47, 1651--1657 (1961; Zbl 0107.40303)]. This so-called ``auxiliary theorem'' of Whitney has become of great importance and has been used many times. Also, it got different names as ``Whitney lemma'', ``Whitney trick'', etc. The author considers the statement (omitted here) of the Whitney lemma in [\textit{C. P. Rourke} and \textit{B. J. Sanderson}, Introduction to piecewise-linear topology. Berlin etc.: Springer-Verlag (1972; Zbl 0254.57010), p. 69] and gives a relatively simple counterexample when \(n=2\).