"I have discovered a truly marvellous proof, which this margin is too narrow to contain". With these words the 17th-century French mathematician Pierre de Fermat threw down the gauntlet to future generations. Over 350 years were to pass before a Englishman finally cracked the mystery in 1995. Andrew Wiles had dreamt of proving Fermat ever since he first read about the theorem as a boy of ten at his local library. Only after years of toil, frustration and disappointment came the breakthrough. This work tells the true story of how Fermat's Theorem was made to yield up its secrets.
Amazon.com Review
When Andrew Wiles of Princeton University announced a solution of Fermat's last theorem in 1993, it electrified the world of mathematics. After a flaw was discovered in the proof, Wiles had to work for another year--he had already labored in solitude for seven years--to establish that he had solved the 350-year-old problem. Simon Singh's book is a lively, comprehensible explanation of Wiles's work and of the star-, trauma-, and wacko-studded history of Fermat's last theorem. Fermat's Enigma contains some problems that offer a taste of the math, but it also includes limericks to give a feeling for the goofy side of mathematicians.
