As the reader will have already realised, the history of perfect numbers is littered with errors and Cataldi, despite having made the major advance of finding two new perfect numbers, also made some false claims.
www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/HistTopics/Perfect_numbers... www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/HistTopics/Perfect_numbers.html
You can see more about these numbers in the History topics article Perfect numbers. By the time Euclid's Elements appeared in about 300 BC, several important results about primes had been proved. In Book IX of the Elements, Euclid proves that there are infinitely many prime numbers.
www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/HistTopics/Prime_numbers.h... www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/HistTopics/Prime_numbers.html
The MacTutor History of Mathematics website states that Nichomachus of Gerasa claimed that all Perfect Numbers are even, a theory that is yet to be disproved, and that he theorised there would be one Perfect Number in each range ... Home » Science & Nature » Math/Chaos Theory » Math » The History of Perfect Numbers...
math.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_history_of_perfect_nu... math.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_history_of_perfect_numbers
1. Early History ... Perfect Numbers and a Few Theorems ... You may have also noticed that the perfect numbers listed above (6, 28, 496, 8128) all end with either the digit 6 or the digit 8--this is also very easy to prove (but no, they do not continue to alternate 6, 8, 6, 8,...). If you like that digit pattern,
primes.utm.edu/mersenne/
What is a perfect number? ... For more information, see Perfect Numbers, from the St. Andrews MacTutor Math History archives; or search the Dr. Math archives for the words perfect number (that exact phrase). The archives provide a List of the First 22 Perfect Numbers.
mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.perfect.html mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.perfect.html
The other was the most prolific mathematician in history, the man whom ... The story begins with the fascination that numbers held for the followers of Pythagoras in ancient Greece. Among those of special interest were the perfect numbers, which have the property that their proper divisors add up to the number itself.
www.maa.org/mathland/mathtrek_01_20_03.html
Reviewed by 2qt Apr 29 2008, 07:05am ( 11 reviews ) • st-andrews.ac.uk ... mmmm numbers... basically porn to me. ... Explanation of perfect numbers and a history of their mystical significance. If you liked Pi by Darren Aronofsky this is for you.
www.stumbleupon.com/url/www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk... www.stumbleupon.com/url/www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/%257Ehistory/HistTopics/Perfect_numbers.html
Perfect number - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In mathematics, a perfect number is defined as a positive integer which is the sum of its proper positive divisors, that is, the sum of the positive divisors excluding the number itself. Equivalentl...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_number
A rich history of perfect numbers has been recently supplemented by an implication of the sort that B. Russell had in mind. ... While the even perfect numbers have been an object of study from the time of Euclid, no odd perfect number has ever been found. No one was able to prove that they do not exist either;
www.cut-the-knot.org/pythagoras/pythPerfect.shtml www.cut-the-knot.org/pythagoras/pythPerfect.shtml
As Elements remains the most influential mathematical text in history, it is certain that myriad aspiring mathematicians since have pondered how to produce more perfect numbers.
en.citizendium.org/wiki/Perfect_number en.citizendium.org/wiki/Perfect_number