On
February 23, 1855, one of the greatest
mathematicians of all time died in Göttingen, Germany. He
requested that a heptadecagon - a regular 17-sided polygon - be carved
on his tombstone. He was proud that he had given a proof of
its construction. Unfortunately the stone mason declined
saying the figure was too complex.
For a larger view click here. Note: Modern
stone masons can reproduce a picture of the heptadecagon, or almost any
image, by using a laser and computer software.
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