Prim's algorithm is a greedy algorithm that finds a minimum spanning tree for a weighted undirected graph. It was developed in 1930 by Czech mathematician Vojtěch Jarník but later rediscovered and published by computer scientists Robert C. Prim in 1957 and Edsger W. Dijkstra in 1959. The algorithm finds the minimum spanning tree by building it one edge at a time, each time choosing the next edge that connects an isolated vertex to a partially constructed minimum spanning tree.