How an Inmate Serving a Murder Sentence Made a Huge Math Discovery

Earlier this year, a first-time academic author published a new mathematical study in the journal Research in Number Theory. The twist? The researcher, Christopher Havens, is also serving a 25-year sentence in the Washington Department of Correction following a murder conviction. Inmates often send requests to publishers and publications, because access to specific books and even entire genres of books are extremely limited in prisons. The guidelines are byzantine, and prisoner rights organizations hold up restricted access to books as an example of a violation of the First Amendment. It’s in this context that chemist and professor Marta Cerruti’s partner received a request from Havens for an annual subscription to the Princeton-based journal Annals of Mathematics. And it happens that Cerruti’s father is a number theorist who was willing to take a chance on Havens, who was trying to teach himself calculus and number theory without any access to a qualified teacher. “To test him, he gave Havens a problem to solve,” Cerruti recently wrote in The Conversation. “In return, my father received a 120-centimetre-long piece of paper in the mail, and on it was a long and complicated formula. [T]o his surprise, the results were correct!” [View in Browser]( [Popular Mechanics]( [SHOP]( [EXCLUSIVE]( [SUBSCRIBE]( [How an Inmate Serving a Murder Sentence Made a Huge Math Discovery]( [How an Inmate Serving a Murder Sentence Made a Huge Math Discovery]( Earlier this year, a first-time academic author published a new mathematical study in the journal Research in Number Theory. The twist? The researcher, Christopher Havens, is also serving a 25-year sentence in the Washington Department of Correction following a murder conviction. Inmates often send requests to publishers and publications, because access to specific books and even entire genres of books are extremely limited in prisons. The guidelines are byzantine, and prisoner rights organizations hold up restricted access to books as an example of a violation of the First Amendment. It’s in this context that chemist and professor Marta Cerruti’s partner received a request from Havens for an annual subscription to the Princeton-based journal Annals of Mathematics. And it happens that Cerruti’s father is a number theorist who was willing to take a chance on Havens, who was trying to teach himself calculus and number theory without any access to a qualified teacher. “To test him, he gave Havens a problem to solve,” Cerruti recently wrote in The Conversation. “In return, my father received a 120-centimetre-long piece of paper in the mail, and on it was a long and complicated formula. [T]o his surprise, the results were correct!” [Join Now & Read More]( [Just Over a Year Into Its Visit, NASA’s Perseverance Rover Still Hunts for Ancient Life]( [Just Over a Year Into Its Visit, NASA’s Perseverance Rover Still Hunts for Ancient Life]( We’re beginning to unravel the Red Planet's geologic secrets. [Read More]( [Alternate text] [Alternate text] [The 10 Best External Hard Drives for PS5]( [The 10 Best External Hard Drives for PS5]( The latest PS5 games are incredibly fun, but they also take up a huge amount of storage space. Expand your storage easily with these external hard drive options. [Read More]( [8 Best Tablet Deals on Every Major Model]( [8 Best Tablet Deals on Every Major Model]( Getting a powerful piece of tech doesn't have to mean breaking the bank. [Read More]( [Alternate text] [Alternate text] [Does Revving Your Engine During a Jump-Start Actually Work?]( Does Revving Your Engine During a Jump-Start Actually Work?]( Some mechanics suggest it to help revive a dead battery. We tested to get some hard numbers. [Read More]( [Metabo-HPT’s C3607DWA Is The King of Rear-Handle Circular Saws]( [Metabo-HPT’s C3607DWA Is The King of Rear-Handle Circular Saws]( It shoulders a lot of the hard carpentry and construction work for you. [Read More]( [Alternate text] [Shop Popular Mechanics' Fire Starter products!]( Follow Us [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Notice/Notice at Collection]( PopularMechanics.com ©2022 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019