March 2012 - Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem by Simon Singh

[Emma, Inactive group creator]

Post your questions, comments and outrages here to share and discuss with other members. Happy reading!

[[deleted user]]

Singh crafts an excellent narrative which delves into the history of Fermat's theorem, using the developmental logic of Andrew Wiles as a basis. Advanced mathematics is for many (myself included), a far more alien subject than any of the core sciences. Nevertheless, there is not one part of Singh's text which will cause consternation for the alert reader. The appendices provide further detail on several concepts described within the main text and are similarly comprehensible. My singular issue was the repetition of the description of certain theorems or conjectures throughout. While such repitition is understandable given the author's desire to maintain clarity, it became irksome in my two-day completion. Thus I have awarded 4 stars (though more properly 4.5) as opposed to 5.