Four Color TheoremMatt ReedFour Color TheoremI. Introduction Since the beginning of travel and exploration, maps have helped people record the specifics of new and unexplored regions of the earth. The first maps were crudely hand-drawn and were rough estimates of geographic area based on land interpretation. Once people began coloring maps, to designate partitions within regions, the problem arose regarding the necessary number of colors needed to color a map.II. HistoryThe theorem was first proposed by August Ferdinand Moebius in 1840. However, the problem was ignored until 1856. In 1856, Francis Guthrie proposed the conjecture to his brother Frederick who then brought the problem to the attention of his advisor; Augusto De Morgan. From this point on, a series of mathematicians attempted to demonstrate that at least four colors are needed to color each region on a map without adjacent regions being the same color.III. The Theorem The theorem developed in a series of stages between 1840 and the 1980s. In the 1850s, numerous false proofs and conjectures were proclaimed. However, they were all ultimately proven wrong. A precursor to the proof, written in 1890 by Heawood, details the use of five colors to shade regions of a map. However, the evidence for four colors remained ultimately unproven until the 1970s. The proof was one of the first ever demonstrated by a computer, which marked a revolution in the solution of mathematical conjectures. Although imperfect, Kempe's supposedly original proof of the four-color theorem provided some of the basic tools later used to prove it. Kempe's argument is as follows. “First, if the planar regions separated by the graph are not trian... middle of paper..., numerous interpretations of the proof have been refuted and built upon. Furthermore, the Four Color Theorem was the first proof to be solved with the help of a computational device, creating controversy over its legitimacy as a proof of its time period. However, now that computers have been integrated into our daily lives, they have become a full-fledged piece of evidence that will continue to be used as long as new places to map are discovered. Works Cited O'Connor, J. J. and E. F. Robertson. "The Four Color Theorem". The four color theorem. Np, September 1996. Web. 04 February 2014. Rogers, Leone. "The Four Color Theorem". : Nrich.maths.org. Np, nd Web. 08 January 2014.Thomas, Robin. "An update on the four-color theorem." AMS.org. Np, Aug 1998. Web. 05 Jan 2014.Wilson, Robin J. Four Colors Are Enough: How the Map Problem Was Solved. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2002. Print.