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In an article by George Johnson in the New York Times back in 1999, it says that an amateur mathematician from India once sent Ian Stewart a proof of the Ramanujan-Nagell theorem that the Diophantine equation $x^2 + 7 = 2^n$ is solvable if and only if $n = 3, 4, 5, 7, 15$. The proof "was badly typed on strange paper and cast in an idiosyncratic style that would have given any journal editor the impression that the writer was a crank." However, it was correct, and after getting some help cleaning it up, the man published the proof.

To me, this is an inspiring story, and I would like to know the name of this man and to see the paper. I asked Ian Stewart but he said that he remembers the incident but not the identity of the man in question. I would try asking George Johnson but I am not sure how to contact him. I searched MathSciNet but was not able to guess which paper it was.

Does anyone know more details?

flag	asked Jun 5 2010 at 4:03 Timothy Chow 14.4k●1●68●137

Johnson's article is based on the book "Mathematical cranks" by Underwood Dudley. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwood_Dudley Does the book have the name you are looking for? Let me mention that Dudley was sued by one personality mentioned in the book. I remember reading Richard Posner's decision a few years back - it is beautifully worded... – Igor Pak Jun 5 2010 at 7:05

Unfortunately, Mathematical Cranks does not contain the word "Nagell" (according to amazon's search inside the book), so I'm afraid the answer is not there. – John Stillwell Jun 5 2010 at 7:24

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Having emailed George Johnson, he says that he does not know anything beyond what is said in the article. – bhwang Jun 6 2010 at 5:01

Well, I hope George Johnson was not bothered by the fact that I emailed him as well. Of course he said the same thing in his reply to me. I'm wondering, as a matter of general MO etiquette, whether the person who asked the question in the first place should be assumed to be the one to contact a suggested person. Otherwise the poor recipient may be barraged by a slew of email messages all asking the same thing. – Timothy Chow Jun 6 2010 at 18:03

Liran Rotem · Answer 1 · 2010-06-05 09:07:27Z UTC

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I have no details about this story, but George Johnson has a homepage which includes his contact information. You might want to send him an e-mail.

(This answer should have been a comment, but I'm unable to post comments just yet)

answered Jun 5 2010 at 9:07

Liran Rotem
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@Liran: Somebody flagged this post for moderator attention with the observation that you can now post this as a comment and delete this answer. The advantage of doing that is that the question would once again appear on the "unanswered" list. – Anton Geraschenko♦ Jun 11 2010 at 16:37

Name of amateur who gave a new proof of the Ramanujan-Nagell theorem?

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