The Unexpected Beauty of Knots

Mathematicians have a habit of finding order in the most unexpected places. A famous example of this is when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonhard_Euler" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Leonhard Euler</a> was asked to find a method to cross each of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Bridges_of_K%C3%B6nigsberg" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Seven Bridges of Königsberg</a> only once. He proved that this was impossible, and his proof served as a foundation for the field of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graph_theory" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">graph theory</a>. The mathematical theory of knots has a similar origin; it can be traced to another incredible mathematician, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Friedrich_Gauss" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Carl Friedrich Gauss</a>, making diagrams of knots in his notebook. Gauss was seeking a mathematical explanation of electricity, and he laid the foundation for a rich theory. But before we dive into the specifics, let’s talk about the long history of knots. <a href="https://medium.com/cantors-paradise/the-unexpected-beauty-of-knots-84a5f1569be1">Read More</a>