3withfours,which led him to conjecturethat no more than four colors wouldrolobe needed to color the regions of any map.The Four Color Conjecture The regions of every map can be colored with fouor fewer colors in such a way that every two regions sharing a common boundaryare colored differently.Two years earlier, in 1850, Francis had earned a Bachelor of Arts degree fromUniversity College London and then a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1852.He wouldlaterbecomea mathematics professorhimself at the University of CapeTown inSouth Africa.Francis developed a lifelong interest in botanyand his extensivecollection of flora from the Cape Peninsula would later be placed in the GuthrieHerbarium in the University of Cape Town Botany Department. Several rare speciesof floraarenamed forhimFrancis Guthrie attempted to prove the Four Color Conjecturd althoughhethought he may havebeen successful, hewasnotcompletely satisfied withhisproofFrancis discussed his discovery with Frederick. With Francis' approval, Frederickmentioned the statement ofhisapparenttheoremtoProfessorr De Morgan, whoexpressed pleasure with it and believed it to be a new result. Evidently Frederickasked Professor De Morgan if he was aware of an argument that would establishthe truth of the theorem.This led De Morgan to write a letter to his friend, the famous Irish mathematician Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1805-1865) in Dublin. These two mathematicalgiants had corresponded for years, although apparently had met only once. De Morgan wrote (in part):My dear Hamilton:A student of mine asked me to day to give him a reason for a factwhich I did not know was a fact-and do not yet.He says that if afigure be any how divided and the compartments differently coloured sothat figures with any portion of common boundary lines are differentlycoloured - four colours may be wanted but not more - the following ishis case in which four are wanted.ABCD arenames ofcoloursQuery cannot a necessity for five or more be invented ...My pupil says he guessed it colouring a map of England ..Themore I think of it the more evident it seems. If you retort with sovery simple case which makes me out a stupid animal, I think I must doas the Sphynr did ..3 with four colors, which led him to conjecture that no more than four colors would be needed to color the regions of any map. The Four Color Conjecture The regions of every map can be colored with four or fewer colors in such a way that every two regions sharing a common boundary are colored differently. Two years earlier, in 1850, Francis had earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from University College London and then a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1852. He would later become a mathematics professor himself at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Francis developed a lifelong interest in botany and his extensive collection of flora from the Cape Peninsula would later be placed in the Guthrie Herbarium in the University of Cape Town Botany Department. Several rare species of flora are named for him. Francis Guthrie attempted to prove the Four Color Conjecture and although he thought he may have been successful, he was not completely satisfied with his proof. Francis discussed his discovery with Frederick. With Francis’ approval, Frederick mentioned the statement of this apparent theorem to Professor De Morgan, who expressed pleasure with it and believed it to be a new result. Evidently Frederick asked Professor De Morgan if he was aware of an argument that would establish the truth of the theorem. This led De Morgan to write a letter to his friend, the famous Irish mathemati￾cian Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1805–1865) in Dublin. These two mathematical giants had corresponded for years, although apparently had met only once. De Mor￾gan wrote (in part): My dear Hamilton: A student of mine asked me to day to give him a reason for a fact which I did not know was a fact – and do not yet. He says that if a figure be any how divided and the compartments differently coloured so that figures with any portion of common boundary lines are differently coloured – four colours may be wanted but not more – the following is his case in which four are wanted. .. ... .... ...... ....... .............. ............. ......... ........ ..... .... ... ... . .. ... ... .... .... ....... ........ .............. ................ .......... ... ........ ....... ..... .... ... .. .... A B C A B C D are D names of colours Query cannot a necessity for five or more be invented . . . My pupil says he guessed it colouring a map of England . . .. The more I think of it the more evident it seems. If you retort with some very simple case which makes me out a stupid animal, I think I must do as the Sphynx did . .