In 1803, Gian Francesco Malfatti proposed a solution to the problem of how to cut out three circular columns of marble of maximal area from a triangular piece of stone. Malfatti's solution was three circles that are tangent to each other and to the sides of the triangle (known as Malfatti circles). His solution was believed to be correct until 1930, when it was shown that Malfatti circles are not always the best solution. Then, in 1967, Goldberg showed that Malfatti circles are never the optimal solution. Finally, in 1992, Zalgaller and Los' gave a complete solution to the problem.
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