David Hilbert knew that every smooth cubic surface — a twisty shape defined by third-degree polynomials — contains exactly 27 straight lines. Hilbert used those lines to construct a simple formula for the roots of any 9th degree polynomial in one variable. https://t.co/J7YYWsLftn pic.twitter.com/jwrczOKuAO
— Quanta Magazine (@QuantaMagazine) April 30, 2021