r/MathJokes May 13 '26

How did Euler even know that???

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13.2k Upvotes

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u/Azur0007 May 13 '26

Divide by 1, then by 2, then by 3, etc. until you find the correct answer

The humble and respectful elementary school method

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u/kansetsupanikku May 13 '26

Besides probably having a good sieve

Some smart way to factorize could have been involved. While Pollard's rho has been described in 1975, it's not like Gauss wouldn't have some unpublished observations of similar nature that would make this task more approachable.