直到最近,数学家才能检验证明的正确性,可一旦求助于计算机解决一些长期遗留的问题,就只有计算机能检验答案。 1976年,依利诺斯大学的两位数学家肯·埃普(Kenneth Appel)和沃·哈肯(Wolfgang Haken)解决了四色问题。四色问题是1852年由伦敦大学的学生佛·欣斯里(Francis Guthrie)提出的,他当时观察到:如果近邻区域着以不同颜色,那么用四种颜色 Until recently mathematicians were able to test the correctness of the proofs, but once they turned to computers for some long-term problems, only the computer could test the answers. In 1976, the four-color problem was solved by Kenneth Appel and Wolfgang Haken, both of Illinois University mathematicians. The four-color problem was raised by Francis Guthrie, a London University student in 1852, who observed that if the neighborhoods were colored differently then four colors