Thabit Pair/Examples/17,296-18,416/Historical Note
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Historical Note on Thabit pair $17 \,296$ and $18 \,416$
Most of the literature on the subject states that the Thabit pair $\tuple {17 \,296, 18 \, 416}$ was discovered by Ibn al-Banna' al-Marrakushi.
However, as it is generated by Thabit's Rule for the accessibly low number $n = 4$, it is implausible to suppose that it had not in fact been discovered previously by Thabit ibn Qurra himself.
Hence it would be more accurate to say that Ibn al-Banna' rediscovered' it.
In $1636$ it was again rediscovered, this time by Pierre de Fermat, who also rediscovered Thabit's Rule.
Sources
- 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $220$
- 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $220$