the top 10 most beautiful theorems


A 1988 poll of readers of the Mathematical Intelligencer ranked some of the most well-known theorems in mathematics thus:

  1. 1.

    Euler’s identity, eiπ=-1

  2. 2.

    Euler’s formula for a polyhedron, V+F=E+2

  3. 3.

    There are infinitely many prime numbersMathworldPlanetmath. See Euclid’s proof that there are infinitely many primes.

  4. 4.

    There are only 5 regular polyhedra

  5. 5.

    The sum of the reciprocalsMathworldPlanetmath of the squares of the positive integers is π26. See the Basel problemMathworldPlanetmath.

  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.

    Every plane map can be colored with just 4 colors

  10. 10.

    Every prime number of the form 4n+1 is the sum of two square integers in only one way

References

  • 1 David Wells, The Penguin Book of Curious and Interesting Mathematics. London: Penguin Books (1997): 126 - 127
Title the top 10 most beautiful theorems
Canonical name TheTop10MostBeautifulTheorems
Date of creation 2013-03-22 18:53:52
Last modified on 2013-03-22 18:53:52
Owner PrimeFan (13766)
Last modified by PrimeFan (13766)
Numerical id 5
Author PrimeFan (13766)
Entry type Feature
Classification msc 01A60
Classification msc 00A99