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From: shafto@aurora.UUCP (Michael Shafto)
Newsgroups: comp.ai,sci.math.symbolic
Subject: Re: P may indeed = NP !!
Message-ID: <1027@aurora.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 14-Sep-87 15:22:10 EDT
Article-I.D.: aurora.1027
Posted: Mon Sep 14 15:22:10 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 15-Sep-87 06:44:41 EDT
References: <761@maccs.UUCP] <253@faron.UUCP>
Reply-To: shafto@aurora.UUCP (Michael Shafto)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center
Lines: 22
Keywords: polynomial time algorithms
Xref: mnetor comp.ai:767 sci.math.symbolic:150

In article <761@maccs.UUCP] leb@maccs.UUCP (Anthony (Tony) Hurst) writes:
]
]
]I normally do not keep track of mathematics papers, but I happened
]to notice an interesting news item that jumped right out at me.  It
]was reported in a recent issue of the University of Guelph's "Alumnus"
]magazine. (Guelph is in Ontario, Canada).
]
]"One of the most perplexing problems in computer science may have
]been solved by Professor Ted Swart, who has a joint appointment in
]the departments of Mathematics & Statistics and Computing & Infor-
]mation Science.  He has written a paper offering proof that P = NP.
]...

I recall a presentation I saw once at a high school science
fair in which the presentor drew three or four directed graphs
(or undirected, I guess) and announced that he had proved the
Four-Color Theorem.  While it's true that many significant
breakthroughs have been initially treated as false alarms,
surely many more false alarms have been treated as false alarms.

Mike Shafto