What are some good papers that debunk common myths in the history of mathematics?
To give you an idea of what I'm looking for, here are some examples.
Tony Rothman, "Genius and biographers: The fictionalization of Evariste Galois," Amer. Math. Monthly 89 (1982), 84-106. Debunks various myths about Galois, in particular the idea that he furiously wrote down all the details of Galois theory for the first time the night before he died.
Jeremy Gray, "Did Poincare say 'set theory is a disease'?", Math. Intelligencer 13 (1991), 19-22. Debunks the myth that Poincare said, "Later generations will regard Mengenlehre as a disease from which one has recovered."
Colin McLarty, "Theology and its discontents: The origin myth of modern mathematics," http://people.math.jussieu.fr/~harris/theology.pdf . Debunks the myth that Gordan denounced Hilbert's proof of the basis theorem with the dismissive sentence, "This is not mathematics; this is theology!"
Some might say that my question belongs on the Historia Matematica mailing list; however, besides the fact that I don't subscribe to Historia Matematica, I think that the superior infrastructure of MathOverflow actually makes it a better home for the list I hope to create. Still, maybe someone should let the Historia Matematica mailing list know that I'm asking the question here.
Best Answer
For over a century, books published a picture of Legendre that was not in fact a picture of Legendre. There's an AMS notices article. Does a picture count as a myth?