Fermat's Last Theorem
the story of a riddle that confounded the world's greatest minds for 358 years
by Simon Singh · first published 1997
70% recommend30% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Accessible, entertaining popular-math history of the centuries-long quest to prove the theorem and Wiles's final success; shows what mathematicians actually do, suiting curious non-specialists and students.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
xn + yn = zn, where n represents 3, 4, 5, ...no solution "I have discovered a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain." With these words, the seventeenth-century French mathematician Pierre de Fermat threw down the gauntlet to future generations. What came to be known as Fermat's Last Theorem looked simple; proving it, however, became the Holy Grail of mathematics, baffling its finest minds for more than 350 years. In Fermat's Enigma--based on the author's award-winning documentary film, which aired on PBS's "Nova"--Simon Singh tells t
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…how Wiles finally got there is fantastic, and if you've not come across it in detail then I'd definitely recommend finding out more about it. If anyone is looking for a good book about the history of Fermat's Last Theorem I can thoroughly recommend Simon Singh's book about it [1], which is both accessible for those without a strong maths background (like myself) and paints a wonderful history of mathematics as well. In…
on “A very old problem turns 20” ↗…at several occasions. I'm surrounded by amazingly talented computer scientists all day long and we thrive on each others' knowledge. For instance, a mathematician friend of mine once gave me the book "Fermat's Last Theorem" (ISBN 1841157910) which sparked an interest in math, and more so the function that the language of math plays in logic. I would only assume something like this Sol project of mine would be a very good…
on “Sol — a sunny little homemade virtual machine” ↗For everyone feeling cheated by Malcolm Gladwell, there is relief in sight! Buy books by Simon Singh e.g. The Code Book and Fermat's Last Theorem; after his court tangle with homeopathy he needs all the royalties he can get!
on “Should we stop believing Malcolm Gladwell?” ↗I really enjoyed the book on Fermat's last theorem by Simon Singh - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0802713319 A long time ago, a friend's mother was complaining to me that (high school) Math is a dry subject and she doesn't blame her otherwise intelligent…
on “Great books about mathematics” ↗…is no intuitive way to communicate it. The theorem has taken >350 years to prove, which makes it clear that the proof is not some intuition that was somehow missed by hundreds of people for centuries. Fermat's Last Theorem (book) by Simon Singh is the source to check out if you're interested in the details of how it eluded mathematicians and a general idea of how the problem was solved, without getting too technical. It's…
on “Ask HN: What scientific phenomenon do you wish someone would explain better?” ↗Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh. I really like it. There are lots of popular science books out there, but very few popular math ones. I am grateful that this exists. Read the author's Code Book before. Liked that one,…
on “Ask HN: What are you reading these days?” ↗…blackboard in 2 min. And that it is, now do this exercises and next friday you´ll have a test. (of course passionate teachers do better than this) One of the best books I´ve read in scientific divulgation is Fermat´s last theorem by Simon Singh . It tells the story of the assault to the theorem beautifully. You follow different mathematicians through history and see how they advance and how they fail, how it affects their lives,…
on “How Do You Spark a Love of Math in Children?” ↗Without going into heavily technical books, I'd recommend The Code Book by Simon Singh. There's also Fermat's Last Theorem by the same author. On the more technical side, it's somewhat cliche but, TAOCP really is excellent.
on “Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?” ↗If you haven't read it, I highly recommend: Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem by Simon Singh The proof of Fermat's last theorem has a long and intriguing history, and Singh's writing is accessible and entertaining for anyone with an interest in math and science, regardless of education level.
on “The Proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem by R.Taylor and A.Wiles (1995) [pdf]” ↗Ha. I've read it as "Fermat's Last Theorem" - guess that's the UK name. For anyone who hasn't read them Simon Singh's books are great introductions to subjects by tracking their history. In this case mathematics, but he also has one about cryptography…
on “Fermat's Last Theorem Earns Andrew Wiles the Abel Prize” ↗…the conjecture is true the rest of the steps of the proof are both elegant and relatively easy to follow (if you gloss over some of the details) for anybody with a decent grasp of basic math. The book Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh is a pretty great read and does a good job of outlining the basic structure of the proof for anybody with a decent grasp of high school mat.
on “Titans of Mathematics Clash Over Epic Proof of ABC Conjecture” ↗Basically anything by Simon Singh, I mostly enjoyed the Code Book and the Big Bang, Fermat's Last Theorem was also solid. Detailed yet extremely readable for a very wide audience.
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗Maths tutor here. At that age I was very inspired by Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh. It's not a technical book but gave me my first idea of what mathematicians actually do and how the process works. This book motivated me to major in maths. Anything by Ian Stewart would…
on “Ask HN: Recommend a maths book for a teenager?” ↗…fields there are and where they come from, what some famous open problems are and what beauty means to mathematicians. Good popular maths books are e.g. The Music of the Primes by Marcus du Sautoy [1] or Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh [2]. It's also important to note that there are no shortcuts - it takes at least 1-2 years of studying maths to start to understand the why. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Music_of_the_Primes…
on “New math book rescues landmark topology proof” ↗…meat grinder of criticism, scepticism, plagiarism and probably some other -isms. E.g., Andrew Wile had some pretty good insights as to how to go about tackling the solution of Fermat's theorem (read Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh - good book), but did he go 'Hey, listen everybody - what if we did X?' Like hell he did. Instead he secluded himself and worked on it till he could present a robust proof fait accompli.…
on “Beyond Smart” ↗