Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem
by Simon Singh
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Read in January, 2006
If you don't think math can be sexy and exciting, then you ought to give Singh's book a read.
By the time Pierre de Fermat - sometime civil servant and occasional brilliant mathematician - left this earth, he'd left an indelible mark on the 17th century. His work with Pascal on "laws of chance" (considered by some an oxymoron) was groundbreaking and enduring, as was his contribution to proto-calculus.
Fermat, though, was very often remembered for something he wrote in contrast w...more
By the time Pierre de Fermat - sometime civil servant and occasional brilliant mathematician - left this earth, he'd left an indelible mark on the 17th century. His work with Pascal on "laws of chance" (considered by some an oxymoron) was groundbreaking and enduring, as was his contribution to proto-calculus.
Fermat, though, was very often remembered for something he wrote in contrast w...more
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Read in May, 2003
The book "Fermat's Enigma" gives an account of the history of Fermat's Last Theorem and its proof. For those who are not familiar with the story, the theorem in question was stated, without proof, by the French mathematician Pierre de Fermat in the 17th Century. Fermat claimed to have a clever proof of his theorem, but the margin on the page was too narrow to contain it. Thus, after his death, many great mathematicians struggled to uncover the proof that Fermat never gave, and the prob...more
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Read in January, 2001
This book is about the history of mathematicians trying to find a proof for Fermat's theorem, formulated 350 years ago. Pierre de Fermat, the great French mathematician, postulates that
x^n + y^n = z^n
has no non-zero integer solutions for x, y and z when n > 2. Fermat also wrote that he has discovered a truly remarkable proof which his notebook margin was too small to contain.
That set the mathematical community to find the 'elegant' proof that Fermat talked about. After almost ...more
x^n + y^n = z^n
has no non-zero integer solutions for x, y and z when n > 2. Fermat also wrote that he has discovered a truly remarkable proof which his notebook margin was too small to contain.
That set the mathematical community to find the 'elegant' proof that Fermat talked about. After almost ...more
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Pretty nice read, tells the history of Fermat's Last Theorem, the centuries of mathematicians who tried to solve it, and the one(s) who finally did. Singh writes a surprisingly compelling and human story. Lots of suicides and deaths, some romantic intrigue and twists of fate thrown in, too. But above all, there is a lot of struggle--of many sorts. If you like watching Nova and the Discovery Channel, you'd like this.
The funny thing to me is that I know some math zealots who point to th...more
The funny thing to me is that I know some math zealots who point to th...more
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Read in January, 2000
This book is as interesting as a detective story while being about quite advanced mathematics - as such it is quite a book showing the remarkable skill of its writer to explain complex ideas in ways that are always readable and enjoyable.
A mathematician finds a simple proof to what seems like a deceptively simple problem of mathematics - that pythagoras's theorem only works if the terms are squared, and not if they are any other power up to infinity. Sounds dull. Except that the mathematici...more
A mathematician finds a simple proof to what seems like a deceptively simple problem of mathematics - that pythagoras's theorem only works if the terms are squared, and not if they are any other power up to infinity. Sounds dull. Except that the mathematici...more
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A very good book, one of my favorites. It brings out the excitement of doing mathematics, makes it a human endeavor. It gets across to the reader some of the beauty of mathematics. It also describes how some areas of math relate to one another, and how many areas relate to Fermat's Last Theorem. It makes clear why the proof is important and gives the reader some basic understanding of the broadest possible outline of the proof (not that I remember it at all now, 8 years later).
I think th...more
I think th...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
all who're interested in maths but not necessarily experts at it
Finished. I have to admit I got completely lost in the last fourth of the book, where he discussed the modular somethings (equations, perhaps). It still is s really great book though.
**re-reading**
After 'White Dog', I strongly felt the need for something neat. Re-reading this is like plunging into a cool ocean.
______original review: ______
After I had finished his Code Book, I picked this one up. I always loved maths in school...trying to find a patterns, solving the problems etc ...more
**re-reading**
After 'White Dog', I strongly felt the need for something neat. Re-reading this is like plunging into a cool ocean.
______original review: ______
After I had finished his Code Book, I picked this one up. I always loved maths in school...trying to find a patterns, solving the problems etc ...more
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Fermat's Last Theorem was one of mathematic's greatest puzzles. This book, clearly written for the lay person (I totally fit in that category), tells the story of who finally solved it and how it was done.
Included in the book is a nice history of mathematics, theory - and even includes some fun puzzles to help the reader grasp the concepts discussed in the book.
I totally enjoyed this book - despite it being about math (I had a math teacher in junior high who threw a chair at me becaus...more
Included in the book is a nice history of mathematics, theory - and even includes some fun puzzles to help the reader grasp the concepts discussed in the book.
I totally enjoyed this book - despite it being about math (I had a math teacher in junior high who threw a chair at me becaus...more
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Read in July, 2001
"Real" mathematicians might find this book pedestrian, but I loved it -- it's the history of the proof of Fermat's last theorem, which was finally published by A. Wiles in 1995 after centuries of speculations about its existence. The book intertwines Wiles' personal quest for the proof with the introduction of crucial concepts and methods of mathematics, which turned out the be important in the formulation of the proof itself. While giving Wiles proper credit, the entire story is a bea...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in June, 2007
After seeing the NOVA documentary entitled "The Proof," I wanted to learn more about one of the greatest human accomplishments of the 20th century. Although it is very much written for a general audience and is thin on technical details, it does offer some fun brain teaser type numerical puzzles along the way with solutions in the appendix. It also does a fairly good job bringing in all the nut-job, duelling, suicidal, and obsessive tendencies of the various mathematician's that contr...more
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Read in October, 2006
recommends it for:
people who like math.
A good story telling of how nerdy British mathematician Andrew Wiles came to solve one of history's oldest puzzles, Fermat's Last Theorem. The book begins with Greek mathematicians and traces the evolution of the giant leaps in mathematic knowledge in the world while giving the reader a fair amount of biographic information on each historic figure. The accounts of real people make the book more capitivating while the explanations of different types of math problems and their solutions exercise t...more
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Read in March, 2008
A very nice little book which seamlessly incorporates an easy to understand look at the mathematics behind this simple but perplexing theorem with some of the fascinating history which led up to its solution. Singh introduces esoteric mathematical concepts to the layperson in way which is easily digestible but not patronising and provides a human insight into the often tragic histories of the great minds who have been involved in the solution to this problem. If only GCSE maths had been this int...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
Geeks
I guess it takes a real geek to get excited about a book like this. The book tells the story of mathematicians across 350 years who have attempted to prove Fermat's claim that x^n + y^n = z^n has no whole number solutions for n > 2. It's a super simple equation, that took 130 pages of crazy advanced math.
The book is light on the math, and heavy on the human stories of the people throughout history who contributed to solving the Fermat Theorem.
Good read, but perhaps not for everyon
The book is light on the math, and heavy on the human stories of the people throughout history who contributed to solving the Fermat Theorem.
Good read, but perhaps not for everyon
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Read in June, 2008
I loved this book. Who would have thought it would be such a page turner? I loved the history and biographical sketches of the many mathmaticians--so fascinating! The little tiny bit of math that was included, well, I have to admit, some of it went over my head. (It's amazing I ever made it through Calculus; imaginary numbers just throw me.) It always is stunning to me how incredibly intelligent some people are, it renews my awe in humanity. I definitely recommend this book.
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Read in April, 2007
Excellent work of popular mathematics. Singh manages the difficult task of explaining one of the most famous and complicated theorems in history in clear and lucid prose. He neither patronises his audience or dumbs down, and somehow manages to make number theory (mostly) clear even to someone like me, who has long since forgotten everything that Further Calculus ever taught her. If you've got even the most glancing interest in the subject, this is well worth a read.
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In progress. Appears to be more promising than the other FLT book just finished since it was done in conjunction with a TV show about the proof and involves more direct interaction with Wiles and other mathematicians involved. It is also at least twice as long, it remains to be determined if the additional bulk is filled with substantial material rather than a fuller recitation of the well known historical boilerplate than filled so much of the shorter book.
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Read in March, 2003
Simon Singh's first venture into his scientastic history books. The book is an interesting look through time and the various mathematicians that relate to one of mathematic's most famous tales. The history is all wrapped up with the story of the man who eventually made the huge leap in solving the last and most challenging part of the solution. Quite an exciting read.
Where to put it when you are done with it: Next to your favorite Linear Algebra book.
Where to put it when you are done with it: Next to your favorite Linear Algebra book.
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Read in February, 1999
A fascinating mystery - and an actual mathematical one at that. What really piqued my interest was how Fermat wrote out the equation but neglected to supply the proof in the pages of a book, stating that there was not enough space! The last portion got a bit slightly too technical when it began speaking about Taniyama-Shimura conjectures but otherwise it was a readable account of what one of the most famous mathematical problems in history.
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Read in May, 2001
recommends it for:
Amateur Logicians
This is a great book outlining the history of mathematics in the context of trying to solve one of the world's hardest equations. They had to invent completely new systems of mathematics to solve a problem that was said to have been solved hundreds of years ago, although the ancient proof has been said to have "dissapeared". I have re-read this book several times and it never loses its excitement when Andrew Wiles completes his proof.
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I read a math book! I read a math book! To be honest it wasn't too hard to follow 'cause the author probably took into account it was going to be published for a general audience anyway. Math aside, there was also an interesting section in it on how, with the burning of the Library of Alexandria, human knowledge took a huge step backwards (Middle Ages, hello!).
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