Mathematicians found – and fixed – an error in a 60-year-old proof

An error in a proof underlying a widely used branch of modern mathematics was accidentally discovered by mathematicians while translating old proofs to a computer language. The mistake was swiftly fixed, but mathematicians say that the episode highlights the importance of making maths computer-readable to catch other possible examples.

Most modern mathematics resides in research papers and textbooks, and relies on mathematicians checking each other’s work to make sure it is correct. A proof is essentially a social construct – if enough mathematicians are satisfied that the logical steps of a proof are…