Like the elements in chemistry, prime numbers serve as building blocks in the mathematics of whole numbers. Evenly divisible only by themselves and one, primes are a rich source of speculative ideas that mathematicians often find simple to state but difficult to prove.
The Goldbach conjecture is a prime example of such a conundrum.
In a letter written in 1742 to Leonhard Euler (1707–1783), the historian and mathematician Christian Goldbach (1690–1764) expressed the belief that every integer greater than 5 is the sum of three primes.
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.