retour-a-tipasa
retour-a-tipasa t1_ixo3gi3 wrote
Reply to comment by InterestingPatient49 in TIL Diophantus of Alexandria, a mathematician from the 3rd century, came up with many mathematical equations that took a long time to solve. The last one, Fermat's Last Theorem, was first stated in 1637 and was proved in 1995 by British mathematician Andrew Wiles. by dustofoblivion123
It's not really an example of Stigler's law because it was Fermat who came up with the theorem while reading the sum of two squares problem in Arithmetica by Diophantus.
Diophantus provided a solution for finding the sum of two squares but Fermat wondered if you could do the same thing with a cube. He wrote that it wasn't possible for a cube or any greater exponent, and that he had a proof. Unfortunately he was making these notes in the margin of his copy of Arithmetica and his proof was too large to fit.
Diophantine equations is a broader category which Fermat's last theorem falls into.
retour-a-tipasa t1_iy75fti wrote
Reply to Eli5: Why do birds and fish come in such a spectacular variety of colors and shapes compared to other animals? by thetravelman888
The ancestors of mammals were nocturnal and it's difficult to see colours in dim light. This makes it less useful to produce colourful pigments since they won't be noticed.