Abstract
There are many jokes of the form X's are like buses: you wait ages for one and then n show up at once. There appear to be many admissible values of {X,n}: {Ashes series,2}, {efficiency dividends, (m, where m > 8)}. Normally, when X is progress on a problem in number theory, n is a non- negative integer, strictly less than unity. Therefore it was with ebullience that, on the same day, I read of the proof of a centuries-old problem, and of admirable, and completely unexpected, progress towards a millenia-old problem. This short note attempts to explain the two problems and to give a brief outline of the methods used to tackle them.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 202-207 |
Journal | Australian Mathematical Society Gazette |
Volume | 40 |
Issue number | 3 |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |