An Augusta man said he’s solved a math problem that dates back thousands of years to ancient Greece and was thought to be proven impossible to solve in 1837. After learning about the longstanding math problem as a boy from George Mendall, his math teacher at Cony High School, and told it had been deemed impossible, Rollins took it as a challenge he’s worked on, off and on, most of his life. He was also known for using mathematics to develop highway designs that would not otherwise have been considered, officials said when he retired. AdvertisementProfessor Lester French, University of Maine at Augusta mathematics coordinator, agreed to read Rollins’ book and ponder whether he has, in fact, solved the longstanding problem. French confirmed that trisecting an angle is a longstanding math problem, with professionals and hobbyists working to solve it for thousands of years.