Wilson's Theorem/Historical Note

Historical Note on Wilson's Theorem

The proof of Wilson's Theorem was attributed to John Wilson by Edward Waring in his $1770$ edition of Meditationes Algebraicae.

It was first stated by Ibn al-Haytham ("Alhazen").

It appears also to have been known to Gottfried Leibniz in $1682$ or $1683$ (accounts differ).

It was in fact proved by Lagrange in $1771$.


Sources

  • 1971: George E. Andrews: Number Theory ... (previous) ... (next): $\text {3-3}$ Wilson's Theorem: Theorem $\text {3-5}$
  • 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $24$
  • 1997: Donald E. Knuth: The Art of Computer Programming: Volume 1: Fundamental Algorithms (3rd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $\S 1.2.5$: Permutations and Factorials: Exercise $13$
  • 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $24$
  • 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Wilson's theorem
  • 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Wilson's theorem
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