Mathematicians Of The Day

15th March



On this day in 1590, François Viète cracked the code of a message from Philip II of Spain and sent it to Henry IV of France.
... when Philip, assuming that the cipher could not be broken, discovered that the French were aware of his military plans, he complained to the Pope that black magic was being employed against his country.

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Quotation of the day

From James Joseph Sylvester
The early study of Euclid made me a hater of geometry.
Quoted in D MacHale, Comic Sections (Dublin 1993)