Calcea Johnson and Ne’Kiya Jackson, two college freshmen who, during their senior year of high school, discovered a new way to prove Pythagoras’ theorem using trigonometry, which mathematicians had thought was impossible for decades, revealed in a national interview that they have since discovered multiple different proofs.
“We found five, and then we found a general format that could potentially produce at least five additional proofs,” Calcea Johnson said during their sit-down interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes.
A little more than a year later the duo collaborated on an accomplishment that earned them international recognition.
Nonetheless, one comment that astounded their interviewer, Bill Whitaker, was when the two young girls declined to see themselves as math geniuses and expressed little interest in pursuing careers in mathematics.
“If I become a mathematician, people may have unrealistic expectations of me,” Jackson said, shaking her head. Johnson, for her part, said, “I may take up something minor in math, but I don’t want that to be my job.”
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Their Sunday interview on CBS was likely their most detailed and extensively publicized statement to date on the fresh ground they broke with respect to the Pythagorean theorem.
It was the bonus question on a math contest that Johnson and Jackson took home to finish during their last year at St. Mary’s that acted as motivation for them to devise a novel method of demonstrating that trigonometry could be used to establish Pythagoras’ theorem.
Their work was so impressive that they presented their findings at a regional meeting of the American Mathematical Society in Atlanta in March 2023.
According to 60 Minutes, Jackson and Johnson submitted their findings for final peer review and publishing at the organization’s advice, while also working on additional proofs while the process is ongoing.
The 60 Minutes interview allowed Johnson and Jackson to reflect on their strong reaction to their creative work at St. Mary’s – a Catholic high school that has been dedicated to teaching black girls since its foundation shortly after the US Civil War.
As usual, some comments after the interview were negative, with some people in the math community getting offended by assertions in the press release that was published by St. Mary’s School that stated Jackson and Johnson’s study was “unprecedented.” They took to social media to demand that a 2009 trigonometry-based proof of Pythagoras’ theorem be given its due.
However, much of the reaction to Calcea and Ne’Kiya was encouraging, particularly as mathematicians who examined their work agreed that, by all indications, they had arrived at a valid new proof, a commendable achievement.
Former first lady Michelle Obama also shared a social media post with a link to a story on Calcea and Ne’Kiya, saying, “I just love this story. Way to go, Ne’Kiya and Calcea! I’m rooting for you all and can’t wait to see what happens next.”
They also received a medal from Louisiana’s then-governor and symbolic keys to the city of New Orleans.
When asked on 60 Minutes why they thought people were so amazed by what they had done, Ne’Kiya stated that she believed the public was surprised that young black women could accomplish such a feat.
“I’d like to be celebrated for what it is,” Jackson stated. “Like, it’s a great mathematical achievement.” Jackson is presently attending Xavier University in New Orleans, where she is studying pharmacy.
Meanwhile, Calcea, who graduated from St. Mary’s as valedictorian, is studying environmental engineering at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
