[samontar]

It wasn’t when we learned it in high school, but it’s just that it’s a story that’s easy to tell. Just like the Königsberg reference for Eulerian graphs; Kekule and the Benzene ring; Lorenz, the weather, the butterfly, and deterministic chaos.

[umanwizard]

Thanks - out of all the replies to my comment, I think this is one of the most plausible hypotheses. I indeed think the Konigsberg and benzene stories are as commonly trotted out as the Hamilton one.