> What strikes me is the reminder that it is never possible to "prove" something by pointing out that it is true for all known cases. Not exactly true. If you

> What strikes me is the reminder that it is never possible to "prove" something by pointing out that it is true for all known cases. Not exactly true. If you can prove that the cases you checked amount to all the cases in the theorem statement, you're done. The Four-color theorem is a well-known example that was originally proved in this way (accompanied by a controversy about whether that's a 'real' proof, which is arguably pretty much settled at this point). Induction would arguably be another way (that only requires checking a single case).