Thirty-six officers problem. This problem was devised in 1779 by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707-1783). Euler asked if six regiments (colours),with men of six different ranks (pips on shoulder tabs),could be arranged in a 6x6 square so that each row and column would not repeat a rank or regiment. Known as a Graeco-Latin square,this is a form of combinatorics. Latin squares,such as Sudoku,involve non-repetition of one property rather than two. Euler said there was no solution to this problem,but this was not proven until 1901. In 1960,it was shown that all Graeco-Latin squares except the 2x2 and 6x6 cases can be solved | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library |
Taille de l’image : | 3879 px × 4524 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Property Release : | Non requis |
Restrictions : | - |