When a top-tier mathematician announced in August that he had proved one of the greatest problems in mathematics, the claim was trumpeted in the New York Times, Nature, Science and the Boston Globe.

Since the start of the 20th century, the heart of mathematics has been the proof — a rigorous, logical argument for whether a given statement is true or false. Mathematicians’ careers are measured by ...

Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson, who surprised the math world when they produced innovative solutions to a 2,000-year-old puzzle, wowed the math world again when they presented several new ways of ...