Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Pure Elegance

Newton could accurately calculate the orbits of two bodies around each other, but when a third body was tossed in, mathematical solutions were really, really hard to find.  About the only solution that could be calculated is if the three bodies orbited in a circle.  Finally, some enterprising researchers have come up with sets and sets of possible solutions.  When you solve a problem that has been around for hundreds of years, are you in the running for the Nobel?

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