Plateau's problem [SEP] discoverer or inventor
Plateau's problem
In mathematics, Plateau's problem is to show the existence of a minimal surface with a given boundary, a problem raised by Joseph-Louis Lagrange in 1760. However, it is named after Joseph Plateau who experimented with soap films. The problem is considered part of the calculus of variations. The existence and regularity problems are part of geometric measure theory.
History.
Various specialized forms of the problem were solved, but it was only in 1930 that general solutions were found in the context of
discoverer, with Alan Taylor, of the first envy-free cake-cutting solution for "n" people.
Previous to the Brams-Taylor procedure, the cake-cutting problem had been one of the most important open problems in contemporary mathematics. He is co-inventor with Taylor of the fair-division procedure, adjusted winner, which was patented by New York University in 1999 (# 5,983,205). Adjusted winner has been licensed to a Boston law firm, which formed a company, Fair Outcomes, Inc.