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Colorful Mathematics: Part III

Posted November 2003.

 

Feature Column Archive

1. Introduction

In the 150-year history of responding to the four-color problem the mathematics community has sent off tubers in many directions. These directions have included looking at coloring problems for surfaces other than the plane, coloring objects other than the faces of a map (e.g. knots), and finding applications for these ideas. Good problems are as important as the answers we find for them.


Joseph Malkevitch
York College (CUNY)


Email: malkevitch@york.cuny.edu


  1. Introduction
  2. New problems from old ones
  3. Exotic coloring problems
  4. Breaking the rules
  5. References