Teens who discovered new way to prove Pythagoras’s theorem uncover even more proofs

As high school students, Calcea Johnson and Ne’Kiya Jackson worked to find valid new proof for the 2,000-year-old theorem

Two college freshman who, during their final year of high school, found a new way to prove Pythagoras’s theorem by using trigonometry – which mathematicians for generations thought was impossible – have since uncovered multiple more such proofs, they revealed in a national interview Sunday.

“We found five, and then we found a general format that could potentially produce at least five additional proofs,” Calcea Johnson said on CBS’ 60 Minutes, a little more than a year after she and Ne’Kiya Jackson collaborated on an accomplishment that earned them international recognition.