Award: George Pólya

Year of Award: 2005

Publication Information: The College Mathematics Journal, Vol. 35 (2004), pp. 198

Summary: The authors place Euler's views on the Konigsberg bridges problem in their historical context, present his method of solution, and trace the development of the present-day solution.

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About the Author(s): (from The College Mathematics Journal, (2004)) Brian Hopkins is an assistant professor at St. Peter’s College, a Jesuit liberal arts college in Jersey City, New Jersey. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington for work on algebraic combinatorics pertinent to the representation theory of Lie algebras. Other professional interests include graph theory and math education. He also enjoys choral singing, poetry, and New York City.

Robin Wilson is Head of the Pure Mathematics Department at the Open University, and a Fellow of Keble College, Oxford University. He has written and edited about two dozen books on subjects ranging from graph theory to the history of mathematics, and has recently written a book on the history and proof of the four-color problem. He is very interested in music, and he has just co-edited a book on music and mathematics.