Editing Steiner system (section)

== History ==
Steiner triple systems were defined for the first time by [[Wesley S. B. Woolhouse]] in 1844 in the Prize question #1733 of Lady's and Gentlemen's Diary.<ref>{{harvnb|Lindner|Rodger|1997|loc=pg.3}}</ref> The posed problem was solved by {{Harvs|first=Thomas|last=Kirkman|authorlink=Thomas Kirkman|year=1847|txt}}. In 1850 Kirkman posed a variation of the problem known as [[Kirkman's schoolgirl problem]], which asks for triple systems having an additional property (resolvability). Unaware of Kirkman's work, {{harvs|first=Jakob|last=Steiner|authorlink=Jakob Steiner|year=1853|txt}} reintroduced triple systems, and as this work was more widely known, the systems were named in his honor.

In 1910 [[Geoffrey Thomas Bennett]] gave a graphical representation for Steiner triple systems.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Baker, H. F.|author-link=H. F. Baker|title=Obituary. Dr. G. T. Bennett, F.R.S.|journal=Nature|date=November 13, 1943|volume=152|issue=3863|pages=558–559|doi=10.1038/152558a0}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Bennett, G. T.|title=The Double Six|journal=Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society|volume=2|issue=1|year=1911|pages=336-351|url=https://ia600708.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/28/items/crossref-pre-1923-scholarly-works/10.1112%252Fplms%252Fs2-10.1.116.zip&file=10.1112%252Fplms%252Fs2-9.1.336.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Bennett, G. T.|title=The System of Lines of a Cubic Surface|journal=Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society|volume=2|issue=1|year=1912|pages=479-484|url=https://ia800708.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/28/items/crossref-pre-1923-scholarly-works/10.1112%252Fplms%252Fs2-10.1.116.zip&file=10.1112%252Fplms%252Fs2-10.1.479.pdf}}</ref>