The Theorem on Planar Graphs
Historia Mathematica, 12 (4):
356 -- 368 (1985)DOI: 10.1016/0315-0860(85)90045-X
Abstract
In the late 1920s several mathematicians were on the verge of discovering a theorem for characterizing planar graphs. The proof of such a theorem was published in 1930 by Kazimierz Kuratowski, and soon thereafter the theorem was referred to as the Kuratowski Theorem. It has since become the most frequently cited result in graph theory. Recently, the name of Pontryagin has been coupled with that of Kuratowski when identifying this result. The events related to this development are examined with the object of determining to whom and in what proportion the credit should be given for the discovery of this theorem.