Wilson's Theorem/Historical Note
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Historical Note on Wilson's Theorem
The proof of Wilson's Theorem was attributed to John Wilson by Edward Waring in his $1770$ edition of Meditationes Algebraicae.
It was first stated by Ibn al-Haytham ("Alhazen").
It appears also to have been known to Gottfried Leibniz in $1682$ or $1683$ (accounts differ).
It was in fact finally proved by Lagrange in $1793$.
Sources
- 1971: George E. Andrews: Number Theory ... (previous) ... (next): $\text {3-3}$ Wilson's Theorem: Theorem $\text {3-5}$
- 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $24$
- 1997: Donald E. Knuth: The Art of Computer Programming: Volume 1: Fundamental Algorithms (3rd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $\S 1.2.5$: Permutations and Factorials: Exercise $13$
- 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $24$