Without any rigorous theory, which would have been well beyond nineteenth century mathematics, Tait began to classify knots using his mathematical and geometrical intuition.
Nang walang anumang mahigpit na teorya, na kung saan ay naging mahusay na lampas ikalabinsiyam siglo matematika, Tait nagsimula sa pag-uri-uriin knots gamit ang kanyang matematika at heometriko kawatasan.