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Angle Trisection
Posted:
Feb 28, 1994 2:13 AM
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There was a report about a 15-year-old high school student in
Colorado who, according to news commentator Paul Harvey, had
"succeeded" in solving the angle-trisection problem by giving
a new method for trisecting an arbitrary angle. I don't know
whether to be pleased that mathematics gets occasional attention
on news broadcast or to be appalled at the ignorance of responsible
news-gatherers who cannot distinguish between unsolved problems
and proved impossibilites.
It reminds me of a quip I heard many years ago about a response
to someone who was doubting the existence of God because his
fervent prayer had not been answered:
"God heard you--- He just said No!"
Bill Berlinghoff
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